It was a nightmare.
That was the only word Indigo could think of to describe the mess she’d gotten herself into—or, to be more specific, the mess that Dean tried to get her out of without fully succeeding. She supposed other words like horrible and absurd could be used to describe this situation, too, but it wouldn’t do justice to how severe the situation was.
So yes, nightmare was pretty damn apt.
They decided and discussed, with Indigo remaining on the sidelines and as quiet as she could be. It wasn’t because she wanted to be quiet, because hell knew all she wanted to do was rage at all the backwardness she was seeing here. But if she defied again like she did earlier, she knew it wasn’t just her life on the line.
This time, the prisoners would be persecuted for good.
And Dean would be included.
When the discussion was done, Dean sauntered over to where she was, his face a mask of coolness. She wanted to rip that mask off but settled for boldly asking him the first question that mattered.
“So by fight, does that mean I can use my magic within the fight?” she asked.
Dean shook his head, dismaying her. There went her chances, then. But she refused to let it dissuade her, and Indigo straightened her shoulders as she eyed him and waited.
“You’ll be using strength and tactics, and an array of weapons that we have here. You can have your pick.”
“Great,” she said sarcastically. “I suppose there are no guns?”
He shook his head again. “Guns don’t exist here.”
“Then I guess I’m dying in the first fight.”
She meant it as a joke to lighten the mood up, maybe a little sarcasm infused into it. But the cold steel in his eyes sobered her up immediately, and she saw fury flash before he banked it down.
“No one’s dying. Don’t you dare die,” he growled. The intensity of his voice, the conviction she heard in it, blew her away. “You and I will survive. I’ll fight all the fights, except the last one. That’s where you come in.”
Shock filled her at the words, and realization hit her like a truck. “You’re going to fight everyone alone?”
“Until the last fight.”
“But they said that I’ll fight with you.”
“I bargained. They accepted. You fight the last fight with me.”
“I can fight,” she blurted out. “This is my mess—”
“Indigo,” he interrupted. While he hadn’t meet her eyes fully since that boat ride, he met them now, and the determination in them staggered her. “I got you into this mess. We’ll get out together. You won’t last if you start in the first fight. I need you on the last.”
“Dean…”
“I need you.”
“Why are you doing this to me? Why would you…protect me?”
His eyes were still steady on hers, making her knees weak. His hand touched hers briefly, away from everyone’s sight.
“Because I want to.”
No one had ever wanted to protect her this much, and the fact that he did, as if it was the most natural thing in the world, made her feel things she shouldn’t be feeling. She tried taking an invisible step back, but it was too late.
Her heart was already invested.
That knowledge should have made her afraid. Instead, Indigo found strength in it, supporting her to say her next words.
“Thank you. I’ll protect you, too.”
Surprise flitted in his eyes, and it heightened when she patted his hand back—a light touch before she removed it. Then she stepped back, knowing now wasn’t the time to tell him all the things she was feeling. There was plenty of time for that later.
Right after they won this whole thing.
*****
“This is bad. This is very, very bad,” she muttered under her breath.
A few hours later, Dean was still in his nth fight—and he was still winning. But watching him barely make it out alive on the last few sets, watching as slice after slice was drawn on him, made her a mass of nerves. She couldn’t keep count anymore.
The fight started at dawn, as most fights here were supposed to. She’d tossed and turned in her sleep, imagining every horrible scenario possible—but it was nothing compared to now that she could actually witness everything firsthand. Only a few shifters were allowed to watch the fights, but she and Cassidy were granted access, and part of her wished she wasn’t, so she could have an excuse not to watch.
Dawn turned to morning, and morning turned to afternoon. They went from location to location, the fights occurring in each warrior’s territory as a sign of respect. On one hand, it showed her a lot about how each tribe lived.
On the other, it dragged the process on until she was sick to her stomach.
Cassidy practically threatened her to eat, while Dean…she hadn’t interacted with him much, because it was Xian who was taking care of him—a show of alliance, but also a show that Dean wasn’t properly attached to Indigo and was only doing this to save the pride of his people. It was all politics, and these damn politics were giving her a headache and made her want to throw it all down the cliff.
Which would probably get her murdered in shifter world, no doubt.
So she had no choice but to accede to it.
Afternoon turned to early night, and he was down to his second-to-last fight. In theory, it was fascinating to see them transform into their beast forms and see their strengths and weaknesses, but she couldn’t pay attention to it no matter how she tried. Instead, she was dizzy and breathless when he almost lost a leg.
But what made her more breathless was his raw power—the power that the cold, calculated Dean in his safe little gallery hid so well. Him unleashing it today set her nerves on fire, and there was something so wrong in that thought that it shamed her, and she had to hide it off from the world. He was granted a small break to replenish before the last fight, and Indigo found herself being ushered into a tent, where the tall, female crocodile shifter who ran with her yesterday began to place leather armor all around her limbs.
“This is heavy,” Indigo complained.
“Better heavy than dead,” Cassidy scolded, and that jolted Indigo into reality.
That was all the conversation they had before she was ushered out and into a field, where they would be facing their final adversary—a warrior from the crocodile tribe.
Great.
She tried to recall all the things she knew about them, other than their mean teeth and their powerful snapping jaws. Crocodile shifters were quiet and kept to themselves, but they were also very aggressive when they wanted something. They weren’t scared much of anything and disliked a lot of things, but there was one thing—or one creature—that they would never try to hurt if they could help it.
Fairies.
Well, she sure was no damn fairy.
All this information was measly, anyway, and she only discovered them because a crocodile shifter got talkative after sleeping with her. That was a long time ago, and she hadn’t been with shifters since—especially not after seeing that crocodile’s jaws snap a man in two out of jealousy.
Well, fine, she did sleep with Dean.
And Dean was standing beside her now, pulling her out of her thoughts.
“Are you okay?” he asked quietly, eyeing the other party.
She eyed him instead, worry seeping in her at the wounds. He’d been limping during the last two fights, and she could see that he was standing with his weight favored on one foot. Despite the break, his breathing wasn’t normal, and she began to realize the severity of his wounds that he tried to hide.
“Are you okay?” she shot back.
“Yes. Let’s do this.”
“How?” she asked, referring to the hammer she had in her hand. Swords, apparently, wouldn’t penetrate crocodile hides unless she went for the belly, but hammers would slow them down. Plenty other concerns came as the horrible scenarios bombarded her again—until she felt Dean’s hand on her shoulder. It was warm.
It was comforting.
“Teamwork,” he said.
Determination slid inside her, steadying her senses. She looked him in the eye, watching his gaze focused on her now. There was trust there. There was confidence in her.
And she realized that they were going to be alright.
“Teamwork,” she repeated.
They positioned back-to-back and got ready.
*****
“We did it.”
She lost track of time, but Indigo was pretty sure the fight lasted at least an hour. It could have lasted for hours for all she cared because she was tired and in pain from whatever wounds she acquired. Teamwork went a long way, but it didn’t stop swipes here and there from crocodile claws, some of which almost had her on her knees from the pain.
But now, the pain was infused with sweet, sweet victory.
When the crocodile went unconscious from all the wounds they inflicted on him and a final blow from Dean, Indigo’s legs were wobbling in an instant, and she had to lean on Dean for support. But he wasn’t doing much better, either, and she watched his eyes roll back in his head. Before she could do anything about it, his men were there, whisking him away, and Cassidy was also there, ushering her back in the tent where healers crowded around her to assess the damage she took.
“The crocodile,” she said in between breaths of pain. “We injured him…”
“Don’t worry about it. We have healers for him, too. And for Dean. Both my tribe and Dean’s remaining loyal men will be there for him.”
That was all the information Cassidy provided before the healers were asking her to lie down. The blood flowing from Indigo was cleaned, and stitches were sewn on her until she was shouting curses in the air from the increasing pain. Then they placed herbs and ointments all over her, and whatever pain she felt started to fade away and leave her with a rather blissful feeling.
She smelled something else, and Indigo’s head whipped in Cassidy’s direction as something suspiciously familiar was plastered on her skin.
“You smuggled menthol patches in?”
Cassidy smirked, her blue eyes twinkling. “There are always ways around rules,” she whispered.
“Sneaky,” Indigo murmured.
“You invented sneaky,” the other shot back.
They grinned at each other.
Dean came to mind again, but before she could ask, Cassidy was already helping her stand up.
“You might want to check on Dean,” Cassidy suggested. “He’s in his cabin. Do you want me to show you?”
Indigo shook her head. “No. I think I know the way.”
Any person who witnessed the fight would know the way, and she followed those steps towards it and got there a few minutes later. She found the cabin right off, with guards posted outside and Dean sitting on the wooden porch, where he was already thoroughly bandaged and looking pretty healed up. He only had his trousers on, but his chest didn’t look like it needed any stitching. Relief poured out of her in waves, and she kept walking until he sensed her presence and looked up. He stood up.
“We have something important to discuss,” he said to the guards. “Can we be given privacy for a while?”
The two nodded and left, and Dean led her inside. He still limped a little bit, but she was glad to note that his back was okay.
Excitement began to surge inside her that they survived that—that she did her part, even if it was just small.
“The others have been released to the marketplace. Xian made sure they made it.”
“Trackers?”
Dean shook his head. “They won’t tell. Not after what you’ve done to protect them.”
“What we’ve done,” she corrected. “What you’ve done, and I helped with.” She stepped forward, unable to keep herself from grinning.
Dean smirked. “What’s with the grin?”
“I’m just really sad,” she said sarcastically. “That’s why I’m grinning.”
“Hmm.”
“In fact, I’m so sad that I think we should celebrate.”
“Celebrate?”
“Yes. Normally that’s drinking in the marketplace or going out in SoHo. What’s fun to do around here?”
Dean shrugged. “I haven’t been here in a while. But there are a lot of fun things to do here, like hiking and running.”
She rolled her eyes. “Hiking for celebration? No, thanks. But we’ll find something. God. I never knew completing a mission would be this fulfilling. Is this what it feels like to help people?”
“Normally,” he intoned.
“Ha. Well, it’s nice.”
“So you don’t dislike me now? You’re certainly very talkative.”
“I think we’re both past that.”
“Are we?”
Indigo shot him an amused look, then toured the cabin. The furniture was all made of wood, and there were cobwebs in some parts of it, indicating it hadn’t been lived in a while. Was this his original home? She had so many questions, but Dean was probably overwhelmed and exhausted. So she settled for humming, her fingers moving over polished wood and marveling over the quality and craftsmanship. It was art in its own way—different from the paintings and statues in SoHo, but art all the same.
“Do you have any wine here? Beer? Something to take off the edge? I can feel my body humming,” she muttered. “Probably adrenaline rush. I have so much energy inside me and I need to get rid of it. Any suggestions?”
A hand settled on her waist, turning her around. Indigo’s eyes widened when she was walked backward until her back hit a wall with a soft thud. Her mouth opened in protest, but no words came out when she saw darkened golden eyes looking at her with hunger.
With desire.
“There’s one thing I can think of,” he murmured in a low voice, leaving no doubt to what he meant. “But only if you’re up for it.”
Indigo could always tell when a man wanted her, but it was different with Dean. He always caught her off guard, switching from cold to hot in an instant and making her breathless each time. Desire simmered in her belly, but this was entirely dangerous for her because it was no longer just sex.
It was her giving up everything, including her heart and soul.
A hand touched her cheek, then slid down her jaw to angle her head up. She watched him wait with patience that threatened to undo her, and all she could do was gaze back.
At that moment, she knew she’d lost.
The refusal that should have come out of her mouth changed as she angled her head higher. His eyes darkened further at the move.
This time, it was him who leaned down and closed the distance between them.
The kiss was surprisingly gentle, a test more than anything as he cajoled her mouth open with his and tasted her as if she was something precious. Longing slid down her bones, followed by a slow flow of pleasure as his tongue slid out and licked her experimentally. Her own tongue came out and collided with his, and she tasted him back, a gnawing hunger boiling inside her.
A soft growl came out of his throat. She bit his lower lip until he tilted her head and deepened the kiss, practically swallowing her whole as he pressed his body against hers.
Her muscles protested, but the need was higher, and she wrapped her legs around him when he lifted her up. Clothes were frantically removed, but his hands were so much slower, sliding all across her skin and teasing her thoroughly until she was crazy with it. His mouth slid down her throat as he carried her to the floor, where a singular rug was located.
His mouth slid lower, covering one nipple and sucking on it. His fingers played with her other bud until she was moaning out her pleasure, and the chuckle from his throat told her he liked the sound very much.
His mouth slid lower, down her belly, and his fingers slid in the part of her that was very, very wet for him. He played with that, too, drawing out the tension and pleasure until she was writhing restlessly. She tugged at his hair, glared down at him through heavy-lidded eyes when he chuckled at her rush.
“Please,” she murmured. “Dean…”
“But I haven’t tasted you yet,” he said darkly.
And he did exactly that.
It was insane. It was the most mind-blowing feeling ever to have his tongue there at her core, and whatever hotness she felt grew twice-fold until she thought she was going to go insane with the need. But before she could beg, his body was already surging up—
And he was inside her in one smooth thrust.
Her muscles clamped around him like a vice, and her body vibrated. The feeling encumbered her and built as he stretched her legs and slid in and out, his face one of arousal and rapture. Those golden eyes stared at her, and his mouth breathed against hers, warm. That warmth built into hotness when he kissed her again and kept moving, his hips pistoning until she was a mass ball of pleasure and uncontrollable need. She was consumed by that need, blind and deaf to everything but him.
Love poured out of her, so strong that she couldn’t fight it. She didn’t want to, anyway, and she let him feel that love in her kiss, let her hands touch him to show him how much she felt for him.
Too much.
Eventually, the pleasure did become too much, exploding out of her and making her orgasm like she never had before. She held on to him, feeling him thrust a few more times before his body shuddered and he spilled inside her. He groaned, the sound vibrating in her system, and she embraced him as his mouth covered hers and kissed her with his last release.
They held on to each other like that, feeling isolated from the world. She felt a comfort in his touch, and her body felt the most languid in a long while.
“You’re…” he trailed off after they managed to catch their breaths.
“Hot? Great at this?” she asked lightly.
He buried his head on her shoulder, inhaling her. “You’re everything, Indigo.”
The words slid inside her like a warm ray of sunshine, then turned hot like electricity. Her breath deepened, and she slid her head to the side and inhaled him back. A small smile escaped her lips.
But the knowledge that this was his home and he was returning here came back, and the smile left her. She could never seamlessly fit in here like Cassidy did because she’d been too independent for too long. Too imprisoned.
Before the worry could form fully, he was kissing her again and easing it off. “Stay here. We’re celebrating.”
He started putting his trousers back on, his blond hair looking so windswept and sexed up that she couldn’t help feeling hot all over again. He smirked as if he knew, and her cheeks heated up. She glared at him.
In response, he kissed her forehead. “I’ll find some wine. I’ll be back.”
She nodded her head, still feeling blissful. She grinned.
When Dean was gone, Indigo allowed herself a few minutes on the rug, rolling around and stretching her overused muscles. Then, realizing the cabin had a bathroom, she went in and took a quick bath. She dressed up when she got out, the giddiness back and making her feel energized.
A knock came from the door, and she hurried over to it.
“That was fast. Did you get…”
The words trailed off when something pushed in her system—something dark. It came out of nowhere, grew in the split of a second.
Her energy came out in response, but it was too late.
The door was already blasted open.