Diamond Dragon (Awakened Dragons Book 4) (16 page)

“
S
o there’s a dark oracle
?” Luc asked, looking perplexed as he sat back in his chair, holding Hallie’s hand. They’d all met at the dining room table as soon as they’d completed the rescue. Everyone but Lana, who’d just wanted to eat her dinner in her room and get some rest after a hug from Bridget.

Zach nodded. “She made a run for it when we showed up, but I caught her just as she tried to fly out the top window.”

“Fly?” Red asked.

Zach nodded. “Do we even really know what the oracle is capable of? Anyway, I got a picture of her, snapped it with my phone as she was trying to get away. I couldn’t get through the window fast enough to take off after her, and besides, she was surrounded by this swirling purple cloud that looked really ominous.” He shook his head. “I’ve sent it to the oracle, though. We’ll see what she says.”

“How can there be a dark oracle?”

“Same way there can be bad dragons or other bad shifters,” Zach said. “We all choose a side to be on, whether we like it or not.”

“Like Aegis,” Alistair said quietly. Bridget squeezed his hand, knowing it was still hard for him to accept his friend was on the wrong side.

“How close were you with him, anyway?” Luc asked.

“Close enough,” Alistair answered. But he didn’t say anything more, and Bridget felt that was a conversation for another day.

“So anyway, we took down that location, and we’ve sent scouts to check out the location where Alistair was being held.”

“Scouts?” Bridget asked.

“Other dragons who patrol the area,” Zach explained. “They’ll take care of it.”

“Are you okay with that?” Bridget asked Alistair. “You wanted revenge.”

He pulled her in against him. “I don’t need it anymore. Thanks to them, I found the best thing in my life.”

“Ugh, is that what I sound like?” Red teased, gazing at his mate.

She nodded. “You’re even worse sometimes.”

Red snuggled Faye, and the rest of them laughed, letting go of most of the tension of the night.

“Let me know what you find,” Alistair said. “And if you need any more info.”

“It’s fine,” Zach said. “Go and rest with Bridget. You two have been through a lot.”

“Thank you,” Alistair said, extending a hand for Bridget to stand with him.

She loved the way his hand encapsulated hers, so warm and strong. And now with a total lack of hesitation. “I would say thank you for saving me again, but it seems kind of redundant.”

“No need to thank me. I like doing it. I plan to keep doing it whenever you need it.”

“Thanks.”

He nuzzled her neck as they reached her large bedroom. “I told you stop thanking me.”

“I can’t,” she said, wrapping her arms around his neck and holding on tight. “You’ve changed my life. Turned it all around. Rescued my friend. Loved me.”

“You still haven’t said it back.”

“You held back, too,” she said.

He stared at her, eyes a warm green. “How do you want me?”

“What do you mean?”

“My eyes. My hair. What do you want tonight?”

She ran a hand through the coarse locks. “I don’t care. I like all of them. I want to see every color you have.”

“Then I’ll change them as I feel,” he said. “Because you bring out every part of me.”

He shut the door behind them and locked it, and the luxe furnishings all around only added to the ambiance. “Tonight I’ll be blue,” he said. “Just my eyes.”

“Why?” she asked.

“Because it’s the color of loyalty, and I’m going to be with you forever.”

She shivered with pleasure as she shed her clothing, wanting to be naked with him. He pulled off his sweatshirt, his tee, and she got a good look at his hot, muscular body in only jeans.

Then he kicked those off, too, and she faced him in just her panties while he wore only a pair of boxer briefs. He cocked his head, and she took in his utter beauty. No longer just the beautiful dragon in the basement. Now he was a flesh-and-blood man, a person she’d gotten to know, flaws and all.

She didn’t know all of his past, all his history, his whole life without her. And he didn’t know what she’d been like before her pursuit of Lana.

But the past was nothing compared to the future they had together.

Every moment she’d had with him had kept her completely in the present, completely absorbed in what was going on between them. And all that mattered was who they were right at that very moment. As they made a physical representation of the forever they were promising one another.

“You’ll learn everything about me,” he said, walking forward until her legs hit the bed and she tumbled onto it. “I want to know everything about you.”

She scrambled back so she was in a comfortable position, and he came over her.

He kissed his way down her arm. “But I know what I need to. I know you’re kind. I know you’re brave. I know you’re loyal.” He lifted her hand and kissed the fingertips. “I know I can’t live without you. I know you taught me to care.”

She blinked up at him, feeling so warm and cared for she could cry. “Doesn’t it seem crazy, though? Being together after so little time?”

“No,” he said. “We’ve been through more than most couples will go through in a lifetime. We’ve faced death together. Fought side by side. Taken care of one another.”

“Yeah,” she said. “I guess so.”

“You know so,” he said, staring into her eyes. Even with a blue color, they were still uniquely his, with those long eyelashes and the distinct twinkle when he looked at her. He ran a hand over her waist and played with the hem of her panties. “Don’t make me convince you again.”

“But it’s so fun when you convince me of things,” she teased, writhing against his touch.

“But sometimes, I just want to know you’re in this with me. Even when I screwed up so badly before.”

She nodded, putting a hand up to draw it down his chest. “I was always in it with you. Since I put on your ring. Before that, when I kept talking to you in the basement when it wasn’t part of my job. Even then, I couldn’t keep away from you.”

He grinned, and it felt like he could light up the room with his happiness. Oddly, kneeling over her, he seemed even bigger as he swelled with pleasure.

“You don’t know how happy it makes me to hear you say that,” he said, taking her lips in a long kiss.

It reminded her of their first, surprising in its soft intensity, growing hotter by the second. She wrapped her fingers in his hair, keeping him close, swiping her tongue against his, entwining them as he let out a low groan. This hot, tall, powerful, stubborn, sexy man was all hers.

“Take me,” she murmured, bringing her hips up to press against him, letting him feel the heat there. His hand cupped her, teasing her entrance. Then he tore away the panties. “Now yours,” she said, reaching for his boxer briefs.

“Wait,” he said, spreading her legs and lifting them over his shoulders.

She squeaked in shock as his mouth found her, bare and wet, and kissed her deeply, continuing just as he had with her mouth. So intimate, so passionate, but this time sending shockwaves of pleasure through her most sensitive areas. She bit down on her fist and felt her eyes roll back in her head as the first orgasm hit.

“The first of many,” he said, grinning down at her. “During our lives together, I’m going to make them countless.”

“I don’t doubt that,” she said as he went to work with his tongue again. She was so helpless like that, hanging in the air as he pleasured her, but she loved it. It had always been like that with Alistair. Her helping him, never knowing if he could let her fall. But he hadn’t. She knew now he never would.

She could trust him.

His hands roamed over her body, touching, caressing, embracing as his lips and tongue continued to play, building her toward orgasm after orgasm as she came against his mouth. She forgot everything but the pleasure, the heady energy in the room, the scent of him, spicy and fresh, and the feel of him, hard and relentless but all for her.

After a particularly powerful orgasm, she looked up at him in a daze and saw him flip his hair back and grin down at her.

“How are you feeling?” he asked, slowly lifting her legs off his shoulders.

“You’re relentless,” she said. “Overwhelming.”

“And you’re mine,” he said, crawling over her and coming inside with one swift stroke as he pushed her legs apart.

She sighed in satisfaction, feeling him inside her, and his hands entwined with hers, one of his fingers rubbing over her ring.

“I’m so glad you asked for this,” he said. “I like to think I would have figured things out on my own, but I’m glad this meant you couldn’t leave me until I did.”

“I’m glad you didn’t let me leave.”

“I’m sorry for everything I put you through,” he said, slowly, achingly pulling out and then joining with her again in a warm rush.

“I forgive you.” She arched against him, letting their chests meet, his hard strength against her softness, their arms pressed together, their fingers melded. “I don’t care about it anymore. You’re mine now.”

He growled and moved faster, and she felt the heat build inside her, exciting her even over the tiredness she felt from the orgasms prior.

Diamond could be a difficult dragon, but when he decided to be good, he was very, very good.

He grinned as he took her lips, joining them in every possible way as he took them closer and closer to the oncoming precipice. It always felt like she was about to fall with him, and she held on tight to his hands, his lips, his cock, as they came together, bodies tightening as they rushed over and fell into forever with each other.

He said her name, over and over, as she screamed against his lips at the powerful feelings coursing through her.

And then she threw her arms around him as he was still shaking against her and told him she loved him. Over and over.

His hand came around her, supporting her back and holding her against him, but his other hand stayed entwined with hers, all the way until they both fell back against the bed, sated and exhausted.

He rolled off of her and lay next to her, breathing heavily, hair splayed around him, handsome and wild and all hers.

“You love me,” he said, still in wonder.

“Don’t believe me?” she asked breathlessly, staring at the ceiling and trying to get her bearings after so much pleasure.

“I do,” he replied. “It’s just that love is such a foreign concept to me. I don’t think I understood it until I felt it for you. So much of my life was about the pursuit of things, status.” He rolled over and buried his head in her neck, inhaling her, and then pulled her back with him so she was lying on top of him, her breasts flattened over his chest.

“And now?”

“I’m still in pursuit of treasure,” he said. “My mate is my treasure now.”

“You’ll have to tell me more about how you were,” she said.

“And you’ll have to tell me what you want to do now, because you’re not allowed to leave my side.”

“I can do my work anywhere,” she said. “And there isn’t much to tell.” She brushed sweaty hair off her forehead and slid off him to snuggle against his side. “I lived alone. I worked. If something didn’t have a purpose, I didn’t bother.”

“So I brought a little adventure into your life, and you brought a little love into mine.”

“Yeah,” she said, looking into his beautiful blue eyes, wondering what color would come next. “I like how it worked out.”

“So which of my colors do you like most so far?” he asked, letting his eyes go back to rainbow.

“I love every color you show,” she said. “But what I love most is what’s beneath all the disguises.” She ran her hands over his chest, feeling the smooth skin. “What’s under here.”

“Scales?” he teased.

She wrinkled her nose. “No. Your heart.”

“There wasn’t one before you,” he said. “It was all rock.”

She giggled. “Dom said something like that.”

“When were you talking to him?”

“When I was giving him Lana’s info so he could help find her. He said you were like a diamond, and even a diamond can be cracked under the right pressure.”

He sat up, pulling the sheets over his knees to his waist. She sat up next to him, leaning in. “I guess you cracked me, then. But I don’t think that’s what it is. I just think a diamond can’t shine without the right light. It’s just a chunk of rock without something to bring out what’s inside it.” He rested his head on hers. “You’re my light.”

It was unbelievably sweet of him to say that, and Bridget was speechless.

“So stay by my side forever, all right?” he asked, sounding slightly sleepy now.

“All right,” she said, entwining their hands together as he took a deep breath and let it out in relief.

He leaned over to kiss her one more time, and heat flooded through her, as it always did. No matter how exhausted she was, she could always feel excited with his kiss.

“I told you, didn’t I?” he asked, brushing her hair back and searing her with a quick press of his lips to her jaw. “One kiss often leads to more.”

“When it leads to forever with someone like you, I have no regrets.”

Then he deepened the kiss, and Bridget knew it was going to definitely lead to more. Which was fine with her, because no matter how much she had, she would always want more with her dragon.

He’d been right. Touching a dragon was dangerous.

“
I
want
you to design my website,” Lana said, sitting on her bed across from Bridget a few days after the rescue. “If I can’t leave this place, then I want to work on my line here.”

“I’m sorry you can’t go,” Bridget said. “But the dragons aren’t sure if they’ll still come after you. They just want you to be safe.
I
want you to be safe. And I’m staying here, too.”

“But you have your sexy man around,” Lana said, sighing. “Damn, that is some eye candy.”

Bridget flushed, feeling bad about how happy she was when her friend had been going through so much.

“Don’t get me wrong,” Lana said. “I’m nothing but happy for you. You deserved someone who saw you for you. I was always frustrated when people overlooked you because you were quiet or just not showing everyone who you are.” Lana’s light-brown eyes sparkled. “You definitely showed who you are by coming for me. No one else cared.”

“I’m sorry,” Bridget said. “No one knew what to do. Even what I did was illegal.”

“I can’t believe my job just fired me. I was missing!” Lana exclaimed. “Oh well, time to work on the line I wanted to make anyway.”

“For curvy girls?” Bridget asked.

“Yup,” Lana said. “Something really sexy.”

“You should just make stuff so girls can wear things like you do,” Bridget said. “You always look amazing.”

She meant it. Lana sewed and altered a lot of her own clothes, which always looked stylish and flattering in bright colors and soft knits but also seemed comfortable. Lana knew how to show off her curves to her best advantage.

Bridget was glad Alistair seemed happiest when she was just in her sweats and without makeup, because it meant she didn’t have to try to be anything but herself.

But on days when she wanted to be sexy, she would love to have something like Lana wore.

“But yeah, will you do the design for me?” she asked. “Unless you’ve already gone back to freelancing and are booked.”

Bridget shook her head. “I haven’t even thought about it. I guess when you start life with a dragon, you get kind of wrapped up in it. But it would be fun to do some design again. It’s been a few months.”

“Since you were looking for me. Did you really stay at that awful castle?”

Bridget nodded. “Not that it helped me. In fact, if I hadn’t run away with Alistair, I don’t know if I ever would have escaped, let alone found you.”

Lana cocked her head, and her short curls bounced. “Funny how life works sometimes.” She leaned back on her hands with a sigh. Today she was wearing a dark-pink tunic that slid over one shoulder and had elbow-length sleeves. It came to mid-thigh, and Lana was wearing colorful leggings under it with heels. “Still, everyone is paired up in this house, and I’m here alone. Boring.”

“There’s Dom,” Bridget said.

“No,” Lana snapped. “No, I’m glad you found someone who can appreciate you, but no shifters for me. I’m done with shifters.”

“The ones you met weren’t a good representation,” Bridget said.

“They’re so presumptuous. They think they just get to tell you you’re their mate and then mate you, making it permanent. Even the good ones are like that, right?”

Bridget nodded hesitantly. “But it doesn’t feel bad when it’s the right shifter.”

Lana grimaced. “Not for me. I want a choice in the matter. I don’t want some relentless pursuer telling me fate brought us together.”

“That wolf that attacked you, he wasn’t in the right,” Bridget said. “Shifters can be bad just like people. Make excuses to do what they want to.”

Lana shook her head. “No shifters for me. I’m ready to be back in the human world, with nice human guys, after this adventure.” When Bridget’s face fell, she corrected herself. “I mean, I’ll always be your friend and visit you, but I’m not settling down with one myself. You know?”

Bridget nodded. “I would never want you to be unhappy. I just see the way Dom looks at you sometimes.”

“He’s crazy,” Lana said. “He talks to himself in his room.”

Bridget had noticed that but had no idea what it was about. “He’s handsome, though. Kind, too. He was the first one to come to me for more info to help you. Really insistent.”

“He was helpful; I’ll give him that,” Lana said. “Though, he could have been nicer about it.”

“From what I hear, he was just really angry at what he saw,” Bridget said. “Anyone would be.” She cracked her knuckles. “If I’d seen it…”

Lana threw back her head with a laugh and then put an arm around Bridget. “You’re such a good friend. Thanks for never giving up on me.”

“No problem.” Bridget shrugged. “You were the best friend to me.”

They hugged, and Lana stood and stretched. “Well, I’m going to head down to lunch early. Should be less crowded. You want to join me?”

“Sure,” Bridget said. “Alistair’s down there meeting with the dragons. We can catch up with them.”

Lana’s nose wrinkled in disgust. Bridget had always thought she had the prettiest nose, with a little curve at the end. “Maybe I should wait.”

Bridget linked an arm through hers. “Come on. Spend some more time realizing all shifters aren’t evil.”

Lana rolled her eyes but let Bridget lead her from the room. “Fine. At least the food is good.”

As they walked down the stairs, Bridget felt her friend soften. “I really am not trying to be ungrateful. It’s just… I lost everything. My career, my freedom. And the whole time, I hated shifters. I still don’t have everything back that I lost, you know? It’s going to take time.”

“Take all the time you need,” Bridget said. “And my friends will keep you safe in the meantime.”

Lana gave her a grateful smile as they walked into the dining room, arm in arm.

Luc, Zach, and Alistair were there, huddled in a meeting. “Where’s Red?” Bridget asked.

Alistair looked up, and his eyes lit at the sight of his mate. He walked around the table to wrap his arms around her and pull her in. “Out with Faye. Doctor appointment.”

The men looked at each other in surprise. “Dragon baby?” Zach asked.

“I don’t know,” Alistair said. “We’ll have to ask him when he gets back.”

“Damn,” Zach said. “We were supposed to get the next baby.”

“Maybe you’ll get twins and catch up,” Lana said, surprising them by adding to the conversation.

Zach smiled. “Yeah. Maybe.” He stood, shoving his hands in his pockets. “I’m going to go find Erin.”

“Oh, gross,” Alistair said. “He’s going to go work on it now.” He gave Bridget a wicked look. “We should try and beat him.”

“We’re not competing over having a baby,” Bridget said, sitting down. “That’s ridiculous.”

“Speaking of which, I better go check on Hallie,” Luc said. “She wasn’t feeling well this morning, and I promised to bring her lunch when we were done.”

“Tell her we hope she feels better,” Bridget said, and Luc nodded but left the room with a slightly worried expression.

Bridget knew there was a little tension around the pregnancy, as joyful of an event as it was, just because an awakened dragon had yet to have a baby with a human. But somehow, she felt it would all work out.

And she did want one of her own with Alistair.

With Zach and Luc out of the room, it was just her and Alistair and Lana. Alistair was all politeness as he held out chairs for them to sit down.

“Such a gentleman,” Lana said with a smile.

“She’s training me,” he replied. “I’ll grab some sandwiches from the kitchen.”

Lana leaned back with a sigh. “Now this I could get used to. It’s like room service all the time. How do I get me one of those that isn’t a shifter?”

Bridget was zoned out watching Alistair’s ass and almost didn’t hear her. When she did, she snapped to attention, a guilty smile on her face. “I don’t know if that’s possible,” she said. “But I know you’ll find the right person for you.”

Just as she said it, Dom entered the room. Without even looking in his direction, Bridget knew he’d entered. There was just a kind of crackling in the air, an unknown energy that followed the big shifter.

He sat heavily in a chair next to Lana, much to her displeasure, and she did her best to ignore him.

Alistair brought sandwiches back in, along with one for Dom, and they all talked about what was going on with the hunt for the dark oracle. The regular oracle had been made aware and had some suspicions about who it was but hadn’t shared anything with them yet.

The castle where Alistair had been held had already been evacuated and was empty by the time it had been investigated. Perhaps Alistair escaping had scared them all shitless that he’d get free and come back for them. Or perhaps the people at the top had gotten angry with their carelessness.

Regardless, Alistair seemed less interested in bloodshed these days, and Bridget was grateful for it. She knew he could still kick ass when he needed to.

“Damn straight,” Alistair said. “So what do you want to do today? Show me more human things?”

“Maybe a movie?” Bridget asked.

“Ooh, that sounds fun. Can I come?” Lana asked.

Bridget nodded. “Sure.”

“I’ll come, too.” Dom’s voice rumbled from his side of the table, shocking all of them.

“No,” Lana said. “No, no, no. In that case, I’m staying home.”

Dom scowled at her, his bright-blue eyes darkening. “Why do you hate me?”

“I have no reason to like you. I mean, you rescued me, thanks to Bridget, but I don’t even know you. And I don’t want to. You’re a shifter.”

“All the guys here are. You don’t hate them.”

She shrugged. “I can’t hate my friends’ mates.”

Dom scowled as he ate his sandwich and wiped off his hands. Then he leaned back in his chair. “What is your beef with shifters if they aren’t kidnapping you?”

She sat up indignantly. “I just don’t get how they can just ‘know’ and push that on other people. I don’t get how they can just instantly be attracted and want to mate. It doesn’t make any sense. People just don’t ‘know’ like that.”

Bridget was quiet. After what her friend had been through, she didn’t want to correct her. But sometimes people really did just know.

Even Alistair, who had taken awhile to figure it out, had known.

And it was kind of reassuring to have a big, hot guy chasing you.

Not for Lana, apparently. “I just don’t get what the big deal is. What would make a woman fall for a shifter when they’re such presumptuous, pushy—”

She was cut off as Dom leaned over the table and kissed her, wrapping one hand around her neck and holding her against his lips as she struggled slightly and then went limp.

Bridget was too shocked to do anything, and then Lana let out a small moan, and Alistair averted his eyes.

A moment later, Dom pulled back, surveyed Lana’s glazed expression and slumped posture, and nodded.

Then he stood, hands in pockets, and walked from the room. He stopped at the doorway. “Thanks for the sandwich, Al.”

“No problem,” Alistair said, blinking in shock and looking from Bridget to Lana, who was still sitting there in a daze.

His footsteps faded as they all sat there in silence, and then Lana looked over at them, touching her lips.

“Did that just happen?” she asked, biting her lip.

They nodded.

“Damn,” she said, sinking her cheek onto her palm and looking in the direction Dom had gone. “What was that for?”

Bridget could only gape at her friend. She had no idea.

“Should I kick his ass?” Alistair asked.

Lana snapped out of it. “No.” She shook her head. “No. I’m going after him. No way he gets away with that and just runs.” She stood up and nearly stumbled as she ran off in the direction Dom had gone.

“Looks like it’s going to get more exciting around here,” Alistair mumbled, squeezing her hand.

“I’m fine with that as long as I’m with you,” Bridget said.

“Me, too.” He agreed. “Now let’s go see that movie. You think Lana still wants to come?”

Bridget smiled as she looked upstairs where Lana had gone. “You know what? I think she’s gonna be busy.”

Alistair leaned in for a kiss, and Bridget hoped her friend could keep an open mind where shifter males were concerned. As much as they could be the most frustrating men on the planet, they also loved with all their being.

And a love like that was worth more than gold or diamonds. Well, except for the diamond holding her hand. He was more valuable than anything in the world.

And all hers.

* * *