Ashes of War (Sons of War) (3 page)

A dark brow rose over the top rim of his shades. “We have to take care of one small issue first.”

She swallowed, hating the weakness this man and his damn dragon created in her. “What’s that?”

He pressed his cheek to hers, bit lightly on her ear lobe, and whispered. “I want to fuck you until you scream.”

Well, damn.

Beers forgotten, she dropped them, the bottles bounced on the carpet and rolled to
clink
against the coffee table leg. Wrapping her arms around his neck, she fisted her hands in his hair and kissed him.

Chapter Three

Ash bit down on Ty’s lower lip, drawing a low, husky half-growl, half-groan from him. He pressed his hard, jean covered erection into her abdomen. “Are you sure you want to play with a dragon?”

She drew back to study the dark shades, desperately wanting to snatch them off his face so she could see his eyes. Yet she couldn’t do it, couldn’t take the sense of security or whatever he clung to away from him. He’d have to be ready to allow her access to all of him. “I’ve
been
ready to play with you.”

“I’m not a gentle lover.”

“I don’t need gentle right now.”

A slight glow flickered from behind the lenses as he walked her backward until he pinned her against the wall. She tugged at his shirt until he backed away then yanked the thing over his head and let it fall to the ground. Following her lead, he had her sweater removed in a flash. Whether it was by magic or not, she didn’t care. Then, he ripped her pants off.

She bit his ear and snarled. “I liked those jeans.”

He sucked in a breath and pressed his still clothed lower body into her. “That’s too bad.”

A shudder rippled through her at the sound of his arrogant, yet sexy, husky tone. She scored his shoulder blades with her nails and rotated her hips against him, drawing another growl from him.

When she slid one hand down his back to the waistband of his jean, he gripped her wrist and jerked it over her head, pinning it to the wall. Scorching desire raced in her veins, making it impossible to think of anything beyond having him inside her.

With his free hand, he tore her panties off then undid his jeans. She stifled a cry as he freed his cock and teased her clit. Her skin was on fire and way too sensitive to his every touch. Removing his shades, he tossed them on the coffee table behind him and dipped his head to trail kisses down her neck. When he reached the bend where it connected to her shoulder, he bit down. Sharp pain turned to intense pleasure, making her come on the spot.

He slid inside her, filling her, stretching her. She lifted her legs, wrapping them around him and allowing him to go deeper. Gasping, she laid her head against the wall and arched her back.

Ty thrust into her slowly at first, then faster, building until she screamed as her climax slammed into her. His body went taut right before he roared his own release.

****

Ty rested his head against Ashlynn’s shoulder, every muscle relaxed and his dragon fully sated for the first time since before his capture. That alone should’ve been enough to make him leave. All he had to do was back away, put his cock back in his pants and grab his shirt then leave. Yet, he couldn’t find the mental strength to do it.

Pulling out of Ashlynn’s tight pussy, he lowered her to her feet and turned his back to grab his sunglasses from the coffee table. The rustling of clothes told him she was dressing, but he didn’t dare look at her because his damn dragon wanted to bond with her, claim her as his mate.
The damn beast.

“I killed Elizabeth,” he said to break the awkward silence.

“I don’t believe you did.”

He whirled around, glad she was fully dressed as she sat on the sofa and watched him. The jeans he’d ripped off her still a pile of denim where he discarded them. “How can you be sure?”

She averted her gaze and studied the carpet for a few moments before answering. “Remember, I gave my word not to lie to you because I need your trust in order to find out what happened to Eros’s daughter.” She inhaled, then exhaled slowly. “I’m a minor goddess of the hunt, but you already know that. Did you know I have the ability to connect with the animal world?”

His pulse slowed and a sick feeling of dread churned in his gut. “I guess it comes with the title. I sense a ‘but’ in there.”

She lifted her green gaze to his. “I can sense your dragon. I’m guessing I could connect with him like I can with other animal species.”

“You guess?”

“I haven’t tried. It’d be a violation of your free will.”

He would have laughed, but the way she held eye contact and remained relaxed told him she spoke the truth. “Your
gift
tells you I’m innocent, even though you haven’t used it on me?”

Her eyes narrowed and she worked her jaw as if choosing the right words. Ty suppressed his amusement. “It’s hard to explain. I just know. I’ve known since seeing you at the mansion.”

“Try to explain.”

“It’s more like a knowing. I could sense your dragon as well as your brothers’ dragons. Even though you hold onto the darkness more, I don’t feel evil within you like I do with Garrick. Your twisted brother has the capability to kill for his own enjoyment. It’s sickening. You don’t. You kill out of necessity or self-defense.” She paused and stared at him.

He tried to think back on the day Zavier tore through the place he’d been held, but couldn’t remember. Everything played in his mind like broken pieces of a bad movie. Nothing made sense. Letting out a sigh, he turned to pace to the window and scanned the streets below. “I don’t remember much after my dragon took control of my mind. Zavier said Elizabeth was dead when he arrived.”

Fabric sliding across the leather couch made him turn his head enough to watch Ashlynn from the corner of his eye. She stood and advanced to stand next to him. “It is possible Garrick killed her and made you believe you did it.”

He angled his body so he faced her and leaned against the window frame. “How?”

She watched the people mill about the busy street below. “Garrick has potion makers working for him in the Imperial Order. He also has a couple of magic weavers. He could have used one or both to erase your memories enough so you wouldn’t know if you did it or not. My guess is he counted on the fact you’d take the blame, given your state of mind.”

He let out a low growl of annoyance. “What would you know about my state of mind?”

She tilted her head back slightly to study him and frowned. “I was given some details before I was sent on the mission. I was told you’d submitted to your dragon and went insane, but that day at the mansion—outside your room—I didn’t sense any insanity. I felt anger, rage, and mistrust. That is when I decided I needed more information. I believe someone else killed Elizabeth and wanted you to take the fall for it.”

He cursed low and pushed away from the window to pace the apartment. Garrick had motive to do it and blame him. “Garrick blames me for Sophia’s death.”

Ashlynn tilted her head and watched him. “How so?”

Ty stopped pacing and faced her. “Because her unborn child was mine.”

She opened her mouth, closed it, and her eyes darkened slightly. “But they were mated, weren’t they?”

Ty nodded. “Sophia and I were close friends. About a month before Garrick claimed her as his, we spent a weekend together. She said she was attracted to both of us, but wanted to be sure which one of us was her true mate.”

He fisted his hands and clenched his teeth. “I believe she played both Garrick and me. She wanted both of us, but neither one of us wanted to share. Plus, I didn’t love her the way Garrick did.”

“So she got pregnant by you and mated Garrick.”

“Exactly. She got both of us.”

Ashlynn let out a breath. “No wonder you don’t trust women. I wouldn’t either.”

He shrugged. “What do you suggest we do now, goddess?”

She rolled her eyes and glanced back out the window, then her body tensed. “We have to take care of our visitors first.”

He was about to ask what she meant when the front door blew open and daemons rushed inside, throwing energy bolts at them. His heart stopped for a brief moment when Ashlynn dropped to the floor, blood soaking her shirt.

He roared and thrust fireballs at the daemons in rapid succession. They screamed as flames engulfed their bodies, then
poofed
into black ashes. Ty took a step toward Ashlynn when Eros materialized in front of him.

The god of desire was the opposite of his mother, Aphrodite, in many ways. He had short black hair, but the same blue eyes. Ty growled, allowing his dragon to surface in case he was needed to fight the god. “What do you want, Eros?”

“I want you to suffer like I have. Thanks for the tidbit about Amissa being your daughter, not Garrick’s. Now I know how to repay you for my loss.” Eros dematerialized.

Fuck no
. Amissa. He needed to get to her and warn her guardian.

Ty rushed to Ashlynn, scooped her up in his arms, and flashed them to his beach house in Oregon.

Chapter Four

Ash opened her eyes and froze. She wasn’t in her townhouse. As she sat up, she groaned at the dull ache in her chest. Seeing the daemons entering the building, then breaking in her door flashed through her mind.

She fisted her hands.
How dare they burst into my home?
Fucking bastards hit her with an energy bolt strong enough to put a dragon down.

She scanned the room and noticed it was a bedroom. A plain room—white walls, white ceiling, and white mini-blinds—with no art on the walls or personal effects anywhere. At least the floors were a dark hardwood, which warmed up the room and kept it from looking overly sterile. A moment later, the door opened and Ty entered carrying a tray of food.

He lifted his head in her direction and smiled. Her heart skipped several beats as her body warmed.
He has no right to be so damned hot, yet so irritating at the same time.
“I do believe that is the first time I’ve seen you smile.”

He set the tray down on a small table by the window, his smile fading. “Come, eat. I’ll tell you everything I remember and answer your questions.”

Suspicion crawled up her spine and whispered in her ear as she studied him a little closer. His words were clipped and a muscle in his jaw flexed. Something had happened. She slid from the bed and made her way to the table. She could barely make out the shapes of his irises through his shades. It was enough she could tell the right one wasn’t human, instead forever stuck as the dragon’s eye. Reaching up, she touched the rim of the glasses, but he grabbed her wrist before she could remove them.

“Don’t,” he growled.

She tsked. “I’ve already seen what’s behind them.”

“Then why bother now?”

She shrugged, but didn’t avert her gaze.
Honesty, Ash. You promised him the truth
. Did it really mean she had to reveal her feelings to him? If she kept him at a distance, then the whole “seduce him” thing wouldn’t work. “I’m curious. Everything about you fascinates me.”

He stared at her through those shades. She thought he was going to push her away and go on the defensive. However, he released her wrist and waited. Slowly, she removed the sunglasses.

His right eye—the dragon’s eye—was crimson with streaks of gold running from the elongated pupil to the outer edge of the irises. The area around the eye was heavily scarred. In random places, the skin had been replaced by red scales with gold undertones.

She reached up and hesitantly touched his scarred skin with her fingertips. He flinched but didn’t pull away, just continued to watch her.

“Garrick did this?”

“Elizabeth did.”

Anger rose up in Ash and she wanted to go back in time and kill the female herself. “The bitch got what she deserved.”

Sitting down at the table, Ash lifted the cover from the plate and her mouth watered. Scrambled eggs sprinkled with cheddar cheese piled in the middle with buttered toast on one side and bacon on the other. “This smells divine. I didn’t know you could cook.”

He covered her hand with his, drawing her gaze to him. She smiled in satisfaction when he didn’t replace his sunglasses. Her smile was short-lived. When he linked his fingers with hers, a sad expression clouded his features. “After I killed the daemons, Eros popped in. He knows about my daughter and is looking for her as we speak.”

Her heart sank to her belly. “She’s alive? Why the hell didn’t you tell me?”

He narrowed his gaze and the muscles in his jaw flexed. “I’ve been in contact with her guardian for the last few years after I dragged the information out of Ares. My father apparently found Amissa as an infant and hid her from the gods and me.”

“How did you find out?”

“I overheard the nymphs talking and confronted Ares.”

Ash picked up her fork and dipped it in the eggs, not surprised that Thea and Ariel—two of Aphrodite’s handmaidens—gossiped about what went on in Olympus and the rumors they heard there. “Who is her guardian?”

“Her current one is her second. Ares said he placed her in a griffin clan where she was raised and taught to shift into her dragon and use her powers for self-defense. Cyrus stepped in about five years ago as her official protector.” He frowned again, then released her hand and leaned back in his chair.

She knew Cyrus. He’d come to Olympus many times when she was a child through her adult life to assist the gods on many tasks. “Cyrus is a good male.”

Ty glared at her. “I’ve called him to come by so I can brief him on the situation.”

Ash nodded and took a bite of her eggs and sighed. “These are really good.”

His lips twitched, making him look even sexier than he already did. “Where do you want to begin?”

She thought about it. Knowing Elizabeth was responsible for his scars and damage to his eye made Ash more determined to help clear his name. There was no way she’d let him face death without justification. They just had to prove to the gods that the bitch had turned against them. “What do you remember about Elizabeth? Like, her state of mind. Was she willingly aiding Garrick?”