“You know … there was a saying in the village I grew up in as a kid,” he murmured.
Why is he talking? More kissing.
“What’s that?” I asked, as he dropped his pants and I pulled off my shirt.
He gave me a lopsided grin. “If you can keep a female in heat satisfied, then she won’t shift.”
A slow grin crept across my face. “You better get to work, then, Logan Sharp.”
And get to work he did. Twice.
The next morning I sat up, and looked over at my sleeping mate. Mate. That word held so much more meaning now that we’d fully come together. Last night the walls had glowed with purple and green magic as we made love. Nadine had snuck in before giving me the key and had stocked the place with water bottles, food, and condoms. Ya know, the usual stuff. All the way up here on the top of the waterfall, it kind of felt like we were on vacation, not a care in the world—for a short time.
My phone beeped with a text and the sound woke Logan. Taking a look at the screen, I groaned. Sophie.
- Get down here princess. The obstacle course is getting cold.-
“Who is it?” Logan’s voice was gruff with morning sleep and it made my toes curl.
“Sophie just wants to torture me some more,” I told him, and got off the bed. I started brushing my teeth at the kitchen sink. The bathroom only consisted of a composting toilet and river water shower, heated by solar panels, so the kitchen sink was where you had to brush your teeth and wash your hands.
Logan came up behind me, wrapping his hands around my waist before starting to brush his own teeth. “I don’t know. I think she’s got the right idea. I heard about what you did with that knife.”
I rinsed my mouth and grinned as Logan finished brushing his teeth.
I chuckled. “I fell on my ass!”
He stepped closer to me. “You thought outside the box and didn’t panic. Those are the skills you will need to survive this lifestyle.”
Lifestyle. Being a dragon. And a fire druid. We hadn’t talked about that yet, the fire druid part. I think it was too much for both of us.
The close proximity of his hips to mine had a searing heat running down my spine to my groin. I broke out in a sweat as a slow grin crept across Logan’s face.
“What?” I asked, as I fanned myself desperate for air.
“Your heat has begun.” At the word “heat,” my dragon rustled inside of me, begging to break free.
I placed a hand on my hip and looked him up and down. He was the finest male specimen I’d ever seen. “You better do something about it before I light on fire,” I panted.
“As you wish.” He scooped me up and took my hot lips into his cool mouth.
He just made another unknowing Princess Bride reference. Sigh. I was keeping him forever.
The next two days were filled with lots of sexy Logan time, and lots of Sophie kicking my ass time. Separately of course. My dragon stayed happily in her human skin “cage” after Logan lulled her to sleep each night, keeping my heat at bay. Gear had run into an issue getting my car. He was followed trying to come back, so he headed to Utah to confuse them. Eva still wasn’t answering our calls, but we left coded voicemail messages hoping she would get the point and come back—that we had a better way to find the remaining skyborn, than just looking blindly. Meanwhile, I’d been learning basic things about nature from Isaac, about different tree species and how to recharge in Mother Earth. I was now barefoot most of the day. I had to hand it to Sophie, she’d been teaching me some worthwhile skills. I even took Ruben down in a drill one morning. That man was the biggest person I’d ever met, so I was pretty proud.
I was just walking back to the house I shared with Nadine—or that I used to before I shacked up with Logan at the waterfall—when shouts stopped me in my tracks.
“Enough torment, Danny. I’m sorry.” Keegan’s voice was all growly.
Danny sighed. “Keegan, what kind of relationship can we have without trust? Not one that will last, that’s for sure.”
“I do trust you! I took a magical oath to keep the Skyborn secret. I couldn’t have broken it if I wanted to!” Keegan shouted.
Danny’s voice was low, controlled but emotional. “I don’t trust you. Not with my heart. Not after you so casually tossed me aside, and then picked me back up only at the request of your employer.”
Keegan must have been in shock. He didn’t speak for a full minute, and when he did it sounded as if he was fighting tears. “Is that what you think of me? Jesus, Danny, I’m in love with you. Letting you go felt like ripping a limb from my body but I was bound to my magical oath. I’m sorry I hurt you, but can’t you move past it?”
Silence. Holy shit.
“I don’t know,” Danny said in a small voice.
Keegan growled, an honest to God wolf growl. “Well, let me know when you do!” I heard the crunching of dirt and the ripping of bones. Keegan was shifting.
I was about to walk back the way I came and come back later when Danny turned the corner hard and nearly walked right into me.
“Shit!” He grabbed his chest. “You scared me, Sloane.”
“Sorry,” I mumbled, trying not to meet his eyes.
He sighed. “You heard that? With Keegan?”
I nodded. “I wasn’t trying to listen. I just sort of…”
He shrugged. “It’s fine. I wouldn’t mind having someone to talk to about it anyway.”
I nodded and sat down on the short cob retaining wall. “So … I didn’t join the group until you did. What’s the story with you and Keegan before?”
He sat down next to me. “I had a crush on him for over a year. He would always come in to do business with Eva—we’d talk a bit, but nothing serious. I thought maybe he was still in the closet or was dating someone else, until one night he just asked me out.”
His whole face changed then. Danny was a super good-looking guy, and seeing him fully smile, dimples and all, made him that much more attractive.
“What happened?” I leaned closer. I loved a good relationship story.
“Girl, I fell … hard. Hopelessly in love with him right from day one.” He looked sullen now, as if he regretted it.
“But then there were red flags,” he continued. “Keegan answering his phone in the middle of the night and not telling me who it was, or running off for days on end and not telling me why. I was convinced he was having an affair, and he made me feel crazy … like it was all in my head.”
Ouch. That was harsh. I understood keeping the skyborn a secret was important, but making your partner feel crazy because you wanted to keep the lie was low. Still, it didn’t sound like Keegan had much choice.
“I’m sorry,” I offered. “So, you don’t think you can forgive him?” I didn’t want to pry but Keegan seemed pretty beat up over it, and if they got together maybe that meant his stupid “no dating in the pack unless you were mated” rule would die out. Nadine and Gear could even give their relationship a try.
Danny shrugged. “I don’t know,” he answered honestly. “I want to. But I’m so pissed.”