I smiled and crossed the space between us. With every step towards him my body heated up and my dragon pulsed inside of me. There was one thing we were both in agreement of. Logan Sharp was an addiction and I wasn’t sure I would ever get enough.
When I was a foot from him, I stopped and just let my eyes roam over the man before me. He stood well over six feet tall, with broad shoulders and chiseled muscles that made every woman in the room stare when he walked in. It wasn’t just the body—okay, a large part of his sexiness was his body—but it was those eyes too. His green eyes seared into me and threatened to swallow me whole, sitting behind a bed of black lashes, half lidded.
“Yes, I did. Now I can keep my personal thoughts to myself.” I gave him a smug look and he took a step toward me, eating up the distance and pressing his hips into mine.
“Oh really? I bet I know what you’re thinking right now.” His eyes smoldered and heat flared to life south of my navel. As he leaned in to kiss me, my breath hitched and I closed my eyes. As he pressed his lips to mine, I realized I hadn’t kissed him enough. I needed more of this. Every day. I parted my lips and his tongue slipped inside, making me moan.
Suddenly something yanked at my long red hair and mewed. Pulling back abruptly, I looked down at Mittens, crushed between our two bodies playing soccer with my hair. Logan smiled, pulling my hair from her claws and tucking it behind my shoulder before leaning in to kiss my forehead.
“Night, Miss Murphy,” he drawled, and gave me his back, stepping into his hut and closing the door.
I stood there for a moment like a love-struck teenager and let that kiss replay in my mind. Then the thick pull of sleep had me fumbling through the hut, I now shared with Nadine, and finding the empty bed to crash onto. I didn’t care what awaited me tomorrow, today had ended pretty damn good.
We were alive, and I think I was in love.
2
I’d slept in and awoken to an empty house and a weird buzzing, like a nest of bees but sharper. It was coming from outside. Pulling myself out of bed, I crossed the compact room to peer out of the tiny arched window. Nadine was sitting on a large rock, tattooing Logan…
What the…?
I quickly showered and got ready, crossing into the tiny kitchen of the cob house. This house was freaking adorable. I felt like a hobbit. Everything was round and arched and tiny. The kitchen consisted of a two-burner hotplate, small fridge, and cement countertop. Everything was crèmes and browns, and then had pops of color, like a blue or green recycled glass bottle. I grabbed a muffin from the counter and then darted outside, curious as to what Nadine was tattooing on Logan. As I neared, I saw that Keegan was sitting behind Logan, staring solemnly out into the woods. Sophie and Dom stood off to the side, chatting in hushed voices.
“Hey, I know we’re mates, but it’s a bit too soon to be tattooing my name, don’t you think?” I joked, taking a bite of muffin.
As I got close enough to see Logan’s inner arm and the tiny red beard that Nadine had drawn there, my banter died like a cold stone in my stomach. Cooper. How had I forgotten we’d lost a friend last night? Keegan had shared on the bus last night that Cooper died trying to take out one of the druids who’d staked Logan’s wing. While I was still unconscious. Burned alive with druid magic.
Logan just gave me a sad smile as guilt rose up inside of me fresh and hot.
“Coop,” I whispered, as tears leaked from my eyes. “It was all my fault,” I said to the trees, speaking to no one in particular.
Keegan stood to his full height of around 6’6, dwarfing me completely. “None of that. Cooper was a hero. The only thing that gave him meaning in life was God, and protecting you and Logan. He died living his purpose.”
At his mention of God, I remembered that any time I said the words “Jesus Christ” in a bad way, Cooper had motioned the sign of the cross over his chest. I never took that stuff seriously, but now I felt awful. I didn’t know him well—I didn’t know him at all, really—but he was a good guy—who died protecting me and Logan. I vowed right there, to try to stop saying the lord’s name in vain. For Coop.
“I’m next,” I told Nadine, and she raised one eyebrow.
“You sure?” she asked.
I nodded. That little red beard tattoo would serve as a reminder. Whenever I looked at it I wanted to be reminded of what was at stake, and how dangerous these bastards could really be. It would serve to push me harder in my training.
All too quickly Logan was done and Nadine called me over.
“You travel with a tattooing kit?” I asked her.
She nodded. “Yeah. I do. Logan said to only bring the essentials, so I didn’t bring all my inks, but there’s enough to make a nice orange.”
I lifted my shirt, tucking it under my bra and exposing my ribcage, indicating I wanted it done there. I looked up to see Logan’s eyes run the length of my belly and flare green.
Nadine turned the gun on and I jumped a bit. Her mouth popped open. “Wait a second. Are you a tattoo virgin?”
I eyed the newly-formed piece on my shoulder which I’d felt no pain receiving and nodded. Nadine squealed in excitement just as Gear walked up to sit behind her and watch her work.
Was I ready to lose my tattoo virginity? It wasn’t even prom.
“Remember when Logan accidently doused Coop in fire and his beard singed off?” Gear asked the group.
Sophie grinned, leaving her place at Dom’s side and walking over. “He looked like a sixteen year old boy for months until it grew back.”
I smiled at the story, but that was quickly replaced with a gasp of shock as the needle hit my skin. Sophie grinned as if my pain caused her immense joy.
“Better toughen up, buttercup. Logan put me in charge of your weapons training.” Sophie’s grin grew maniacally, and I knew she’d be delighted watching me struggle to hold a weapon properly.
‘Thanks for that,’ I told Logan.
He gave me a small smile. ‘She was torn up over Cooper. I needed to give her a task to busy her mind.’
Great. She’d be busy making my life hell.
The burning in my ribcage had reached critical mass. It felt like a cat was scratching his name into my skin while also tapping my ribs with a dull knife. I was about to complain when she stopped and sprayed a cool mist, wiping the area with a towel.
Roxy and Ruben strolled up to the group as well, which left just Danny unaccounted for.
Ruben took one look at the small tattoo, the size of a quarter, and smiled, looking like his bear in that moment. “I’ll go next.”
My heart warmed and the feeling spread throughout my limbs. Ruben had barely known Cooper, even less than I did, and already he was signing up for a permanent mark to honor him.
“Me too,” Roxy added, and I saw tears line Sophie’s eyes.