Breath of Love (5 page)

To ensure Geva’s total compliance, Kol released the Red from his bindings. Geva remained on hands and knees, his fingernails digging into the carpet. Kol slipped his fingers out of Geva and repositioned with one knee on the carpet and his other foot flat on the floor beside Geva’s knees. He gave Geva’s cock another stroke while he pressed the tip of his cock between Geva’s ass cheeks. The Red moaned a curse in their native tongue and hissed as Kol pushed deep.

“Sweet Mother, you’re tight.”

“Mmm…you would be too, around a cock that size. Bloody fucking hell, don’t stop moving.”

“…don’t want to hurt you…” Kol muttered half breathless. The friction of fucking into Geva’s ass made it difficult to retain the control he needed to follow through with what had begun as simple punishment. Now Kol started to wonder if he wasn’t punishing himself just as much.

“Oh, fuck, don’t tell me this is your first time.”

“It’s yours, too, from that end. Stop wiggling or I’m gonna come.”

Geva laughed, the sound throwing Kol off. Trying to regain his focus, Kol gripped Geva’s hips tightly and pulled out nearly all the way, then thrust hard back into Geva’s ass.

“Is that how it’s done?” Kol asked, gasping at the rush of pleasure the tight friction caused.

“Sweet Mother. Yes! Like that…only slower?” Geva laughed a little. “That’s how I do it, anyway. And maybe… unh…”

Geva’s words fell short with another thrust of Kol’s cock, slower this time. Kol managed to catch the gist of Geva’s thoughts, however, and reached down to slide his fist along Geva’s cock again.

He found a steady rhythm and was nearly blind with pleasure when he heard a faint curse from across the room, but it was far too late to stop even if he’d had any intention of it.

Chapter 5

“
You must be psychic,” Hallie said, her eyes wide at the view that greeted them in the center of Erika’s front room when they entered.

“Not at all. I was only joking,” Erika answered in a near whisper. “And I’ll be honest,
this
wasn’t quite what I imagined would happen.”

Kol’s dark-haired magnificence, naked and single-mindedly immersed in fucking Geva, had been the last thing Hallie imagined she’d ever see, either. But the sight of it was even more arousing than watching her lover bury his face between Melody’s thighs, tonguing her with such abandon that the girl fell into tears of utter joy at the end of it.

Geva’s eyes rested on Erika, then Hallie, the red glow evidence enough of his enjoyment.

“It is quite a twist,” Hallie agreed, smiling approvingly at Kol. His eyes were half-lidded with pleasure. She had the strongest urge to go to him, but knew she shouldn’t interfere directly. “I’m afraid it might go to Kol’s head just a little. It’ll be good for him, of course, but Geva might be a little sore afterward—and I don’t mean physically.”

“What are you suggesting?” Erika asked, one eyebrow raised.

“Just a little balance. You’ve always been the superior woman among us, you know.”

Erika seemed about to object, then caught the subtle suggestion Hallie had given her. Hallie’s skin tingled when Erika moved behind her and took both Hallie’s hands, pulling them behind and clasping them behind her back.

“Like this, maybe?” Erika asked. Hallie glanced over her shoulder at her friend’s mischievous smile.

“Yes,” she said with a grin.

She felt something soft wrap around her wrists and tighten. Erika’s bandanna, most likely, being used to bind her. It was unexpected but would lend credence to their little game. What Kol was in the middle of was far more than a game where dragon hierarchy was concerned, but that didn’t mean she and Erika couldn’t add some spice to the proceedings.

Erika’s lips brushed against Hallie’s ear. “Let’s move a little closer—make sure they have a good view.”

Hallie let Erika direct her several paces to the middle of the room. The men’s eyes followed them both. Kol’s eyes met Hallie’s and his expression grew more intense, his steady thrusts into Geva slowing while watching the pair of them move.

Erika left Hallie’s wrists bound when she stopped them to stand before Geva’s bent form. He craned his head to look up at Hallie. He didn’t quite look pathetic—no dragon as gorgeous and irreverent as he was could even fake a look like that—but he was definitely subdued, which she was sure had been Kol’s intention.

“I’m going to give them a show now,” Erika whispered. “Just go along.”

Hallie nodded and stood still. Her skin tingled when Erika tugged the straps of Hallie’s dress down. They slid along her arms, resting at the crooks of her bent elbows. The front clasp of her bra unhooked with a deft flick of Erika’s fingers, the straps slid off Hallie’s shoulders and dangled around her elbows as well. Erika cupped Hallie’s breasts and squeezed her nipples while grazing lips along the side of her throat.

Hallie’s eyes shifted from Kol to Geva and back. Both of them were coated in a sheen of sweat, their eyes flashing with desire when they took her in. They had to be close to climax but had evidently silently agreed to draw out the experience now that she and Erika were getting involved. She knew from Kol’s explanation of the magic that drawing it out would result in a more intense climax once they came.

Erika’s touch was gentle but insistent, and incredibly arousing when the eyes of both men followed her every action. Kol had never taken control of their intimate moments like this, and she wasn’t sure she would enjoy it if he did—they were equal partners when it came to their sex lives. The dynamic hadn’t changed with this particular encounter, but shifting her mindset to that of someone’s subordinate was exciting.

She felt the other woman kneel behind her, sliding hands delicately down her torso and up her thighs under the skirt of her dress. A soft chuckle reached her ears when her friend discovered her lack of undergarments—she hadn’t bothered to put any on after the encounter on the plane.

“Adventurous, like me,” Erika said. “I like that, but I guess I knew that about you.” Her palms slid around Hallie’s hips to the front, one set of fingertips grazing down the center and finding her clit, already wet and slick, no doubt. She tugged the hem of Hallie’s skirt up, tucking the fabric up and under the waist of the dress so that Hallie was entirely exposed from the hips down. “Turn around.”

Hallie turned and was met with a pair of hands cupping the sides of her head, fingers threading through her thick hair. Smooth, cool lips pressed against hers, still carrying a hint of the wine they’d shared at lunch. A tongue a little more demanding and forceful than she’d expected invaded her mouth. She gave in kind and Erika moaned slightly at Hallie’s eager response.

From behind her she heard Kol’s rough, deep voice. “Yes, touch her.”

But she’s already touching me
, Hallie thought before the heavier brush of a hand slid up her thigh and cupped one ass cheek. Geva’s thicker fingertips teased between her slick lips, making her gasp and spread her legs farther apart. He found her clit and began deftly rubbing it while Erika stepped back to undress.

“Down,” Erika said when she was naked. She placed both hands on Hallie’s shoulders and Hallie obliged, sinking to her knees. A pair of growls sounded behind her, a harmonious appreciation of her change in position. Geva gripped her hip with one large hand and pulled her back.

She nearly lost balance and fell, unable to catch herself with her hands still bound. Erika caught and righted her, pausing with her hand cupping Hallie’s chin. Erika’s smooth pussy was poised in front of Hallie. Experimentally she leaned in far enough to place a kiss against the peak of Erika’s cleft. Glancing up, she met Erika’s bright-eyed approval and leaned in again, this time letting her tongue slip out and probe between the smooth folds to the top of Erika’s clit, then further, hooking her tongue deeper to tease at the tip of Erika’s throbbing nub. Erika moaned and tilted her head back, then gently pushed Hallie back.

“Slow down, sweetie, let’s do this right.”

Hallie let out a yelp when Geva’s tongue invaded her pussy from behind and a heavy sigh escaped him.

“That’s right, Baby. You like the taste of her, don’t you?” Erika said.

Hallie was dimly aware that her friend seemed entirely in her element and she really shouldn’t have been surprised. Erika moved around the room for a moment, then returned, piling up several oversized throw pillows on the floor in front of Hallie. She lowered herself to the floor, reclining on the pillows, and spread her thighs, placing one foot on either side of Hallie.

“I think you know what to do,” Erika said softly.

The memory of Melody’s desperate kiss in the midst of her climax returned, followed by the taste of the girl on Kol’s lips when he’d followed suit a moment later. Hallie wondered if Erika would taste the same. She brushed her lips along the inside of Erika’s left thigh, teasing her tongue along the smooth skin as she went. The glowing red of Erika’s mark shimmered in Hallie’s gaze, yet another reminder of all the pair had in common.

She pressed her lips against Erika’s swollen folds again in a deep, languid kiss. Geva’s attention from the other side made it difficult to maintain her balance. He seemed to sense it and a second later Hallie felt his hand hastily removing the tie from her wrists.

Her fingers stroked gently along Erika’s outer lips, which were already shining wetly with her arousal. Hallie spread them apart and bent her head again to the pink-petaled bud that beckoned from between. Erika sighed and shifted her hips up when Hallie sucked Erika’s clit between her lips, teasing at it in small circles with her tongue. Hallie released it and slicked the tip of her tongue down lower, sinking into Erika’s wet opening, immersing herself into the experience of feminine flavors and textures that were at the same time familiar and alien to her.

Had Kol been as eager as she to do what he did? The thought of him behind Geva now, fucking the other dragon like he enjoyed it, was enough of an indication that he’d at least been eager by the time he sealed the deal.

She could hear him now, murmuring commands to Geva, who was eagerly following them. “Fuck her tasty cunt with your tongue. Yes, slowly.” Geva tongue fucked her so skillfully she almost lost her sense of direction. She’d been with men who weren’t even that impressive with their cocks, and knowing her lover was the one choreographing it made it increasingly difficult to concentrate on her own task.

She tried to shove her tongue deeper into Erika’s pussy, but lacked the agility of a dragon’s tongue to go very far, so Hallie returned to teasing just the clit with flicks of her tongue. She slipped a pair of fingers deep inside instead, beginning to fuck her friend slowly.

“Oh, God, yes, fuck me like that,” Erika gasped. “Harder.”

The reaction encouraged Hallie, so she pressed two more fingers deep into her friend. Erika’s hands went to Hallie’s head, fingernails digging in. She cried out again for
more, deeper, harder
. Hallie swept her tongue in quicker circles around Erika’s clit and pressed her fingers deeper.

Erika’s hips bucked and she moaned and pleaded still for more. Hallie twisted her fingers and slipped her thumb in, pushing her fist even deeper, letting her knuckles rub along Erika’s inner walls. Wet heat flooded down to her wrist, the grip on her hair almost painful, but a sweet signal that she was doing something right. Geva’s tongue plunged distractingly into her own pussy, his thumb rubbing steadily at her clit.

Erika let out a harsh yell and bucked her hips up against Hallie’s mouth. Erika’s muscles clenched and pulled at Hallie’s hand, seeming to want to pull her in deeper. Hallie kept fucking her, quicker now, but entirely lost the sense of where she was when the rhythmic noises from behind her escalated. She heard Kol’s familiar sonorous groan as he came, and the cascade of energy surged forth from Geva almost simultaneously. The rush of it hit her deep, like the euphoric warmth of a strong drug taking effect. It spread through her pussy, inciting her own spasming climax and she reached back, clutching hard at Geva’s head with her free hand to hold him in place while she rode it out on his tongue that still thrust rhythmically deep inside her.

They extracted themselves from each other slowly. Geva murmured something incoherent before collapsing sideways onto the floor. Hallie rested back on her heels, then turned to see Kol looking dazed and just a little sheepish. She smiled at him.

“I hope the two of you worked out your differences,” she said.

The men shared a glance. Kol’s eyebrow tilted up inquiringly at Geva. Geva dropped his gaze in response, looking suitably chastised, but the reaction was minute and less than a second later he gave her a cocky grin.

“We’ll always have differences, I’m sure, but Kol will never question my loyalties again, I can assure you of that. Now who’s hungry? I could eat a horse.”

C
hapter 6

T
he Verdanith fragment itself was unimpressive. When Erika finally revealed it after dinner that evening, Hallie somehow expected something fantastic to happen. Both men sported instant erections after admiring and touching it, however, so clearly it had an effect on them. The artifact did have a slight translucent glow that seemed to Hallie more a trick of light but made her want to touch it, too, just to see.

“Go ahead,” Erika said, handing the heavy jade wedge to her. Hallie took it, hefting the hand-sized carving. She ran her fingertips over the raised surface, tracing the outline of a dragon that undulated across the smooth stone. Her eyes met Kol’s, and they shared a silent understanding of what it would mean. What she hoped it would mean soon, anyway. Her mark heated in response to the darkening look in Kol’s eyes and she handed the fragment back to Erika. She only barely caught the gist of the rest of the conversation regarding their obligation to deliver the fragment to the Council and holding back at least until Geva’s sister was located.

Her vision tunneled in response to Kol’s gaze and the brush of an invisible touch beneath the curve of her breast. He broke the trance after a second, responding to a question Geva had asked.

“We can put them off for a week, but no more. As soon as I hear from Rafe and Roka that they have located your sister, you will be the first person I call.”

“I have a better idea,” Erika said. “Stay here until they find her, then we’ll all travel together. If we’re that close I’d prefer to stick together until we see this through finally. I’m ready to get on with my life.” Her eyes met Geva’s. “With
our
lives,” she amended. She looked at Geva with an expression that reflected the need Hallie felt—that deep longing to have tangible evidence of her union with Kol.

Erika replaced the stone fragment in the safety of the velvet-lined box it had resided in for centuries, and stowed the box behind the heavy iron door of her safe. The four headed out of Erika’s study.

“To think that thing’s been here the entire time,” Hallie said. “Your dad never told you about it?”

Erika laughed ruefully. “Technically he did. He wrote me a letter before he died, but I never bothered reading it. I didn’t look at until two days ago when I got back here. I was too laser focused on all the research he’d left behind. I didn’t want any more reminders of losing him. I just wanted to find out if they were real.”

Hallie’s stomach fluttered at the sensation of Kol’s fingertips tracing the length of her spine. “I can’t say I’m particularly upset on that count.”

“No regrets here, either,” Erika replied.

They parted ways on the landing at the second floor, heading to doors at the opposite ends of the hall. Hallie and Erika parted with a goodnight and a peck on the lips. Hallie watched, amused, when Geva hesitated with a meaningful look at Kol.

“I’m not kissing you goodnight,” Kol said. “As a matter of fact, unless you’re utterly depleted of power, I’m not likely to touch you again, if that’s alright with you.”

Geva gave him a wide grin. “Suit yourself. You don’t know what you’re missing.”

A few moments later Hallie relaxed naked on their bed, watching Kol undress. “After all that’s happened today, you don’t have at least a small urge to find another mate to mark? Someone to share?”

Kol’s brows drew together and he slowed his movements, deliberately meeting her gaze while he shed his trousers and boxers. He was ready for her again, and not shy about it. He was never shy about it, but seemed almost irritatingly overconfident now.

“You are more than enough for me. Am I enough for you?” He slid into bed beside her, bending his head to capture one nipple and suck it between his lips.

“Oh, yes. Absolutely,” she sighed. She sank back against her pillows, letting him pleasure her, and enjoying the hum of energy that passed between them when they climaxed together. She needed nothing more in her life but him and the promise of what they would share in the future.

***

The necessary delay in delivery of the Verdanith resulted in a welcome interlude for Hallie and Kol. She enjoyed the relaxing solitude of Erika’s estate, so peaceful compared to the busy day-to-day their lives in Los Angeles had become. In spite of his assurance that she didn’t need to work, she’d insisted on it, taking on the role of vetting new employees.

Now, Kol was more relaxed than she’d ever seen him, which only amplified the sense that she should enjoy their brief rest while she could because it would end as soon as they got the call that Geva’s sister had been found. As much as she hoped for the reunion of the lost dragon with Rafe and Geva, she didn’t look forward to the end of their idyllic vacation.

It ended prematurely when Kol received a call from the local Shadow and left the estate to deal with some unspoken business. He only said it was a potential client before kissing her goodbye, straightening his suit, and climbing into the hired car to drive into the city.

“We’re heading to lunch,” Erika called out the French doors to the pool where Hallie had been dozing on a chaise lounge, half dreaming, half fantasizing about holding a soft, warm bundle in her arms. One with dark, silver-flecked eyes and a shock of downy black hair. She blinked dazedly at her friend.

“Come with us?” Erika said.

Hallie nodded, relishing the idea of friendly company for the afternoon. She’d begun feeling a lonely longing for Kol that the baby dreams weren’t helping alleviate. She looked forward to the distraction.

After a sunny drive they ended up back at Erika’s favorite cafe, sipping wine and munching on bread.

“How much do you know about your sister?” Hallie ventured to Geva during a lull in their conversation.

The red dragon’s expression shadowed briefly, before breaking into a wan smile. “Not much, I’m afraid. My parents—and her father—gave their lives to hide her. All I know is her first name and her bloodline.”

“So, she’s…” she paused, wary of speaking the word in public.

“Purebred. Yes,” Geva said in a low voice. “Which means she would be very powerful.” His chest seemed to puff a little with pride. “Not surprising it’s taken this long to find her.”

“I’m surprised you’re not out looking along with the others. I know if I hadn’t checked in with my brothers after I left, they’d have come after me.”

A grimace that signaled his regret crossed his face. “I would have, had I known at the start. It’s too late for me to begin wandering aimlessly now, but you can be sure once they’ve located her, that’s where I will be going.” He turned to look at Erika. “You’ll come with me, won’t you?”

“I wouldn’t miss it for the world,” Erika said.

Hallie observed the pair’s exchange, yet again amazed at the constantly shifting dynamic between the dragons and their environment. Whether it was their mates or each other they interacted with, they were so changeable. She thought about Kol and the command he so easily took with anyone but her. She’d asked him about it the day before. His reply was simply, “You will be the mother of my children. As such, I am yours to command.”

That was when it had occurred to her what the role of mother meant to them. Mothers were sacred to his race, and for good reason if it was such an ordeal for them to even conceive a child. The Verdanith would make it easier to conceive, Kol had explained, but what followed might not be an ideal pregnancy by human standards. Most human women had few issues—no more than they would if they carried a human child. But he explained that the female dragons frequently had difficult pregnancies. Yet Hallie knew how much the dragon females of the Court desired to conceive as much as she did. At least Racha and Aurin had expressed as much to her. Halie hadn’t spoken to Issa since the ritual. Nobody had.

Hallie finished her wine, emptied the last of the bottle into her glass, and sat back to enjoy the waning afternoon. Feeling just a little like a third wheel in the face of Geva’s whispers to Erika that were causing her friend to actually blush, Hallie excused herself from the table to visit the restroom. She was pleasantly buzzed and happy, her mind flitting back and forth between memories of the past week and hopes for the future once the dragons got their politics sorted out and she and Kol could start trying to get pregnant in earnest.

A large figure stood in the dim walk-through hallway outside the restroom when she exited. He was silhouetted before the open back door of the restaurant that led to a second dining patio, his features cast in shadow. All Hallie registered at first was another patron waiting for the restroom. Just a second too late, a whiff of cologne hit her nose and made her gut clench with recognition. She hurried to keep walking, hoping he hadn’t seen her but knowing full well she was the sole reason for his presence.

“Welcome home, lover,” a familiar deep voice said, so close that the cologne became a cloying unpleasant miasma. She remembered a time when she’d loved that scent, but that had been a long time ago.

Hallie tensed and stopped in her tracks. Her skin grew ice-cold, goose flesh rising up instantly. A rush of sick fear seeped into her belly, causing her vision to pinch and grow dark with panic. She was abstractly grateful that she’d just emptied her bladder.

“David,” she said in a small voice, hating herself for how meek she sounded. She’d survived the bastard and escaped. He couldn’t touch her now. She was protected.

Except Kol wasn’t here. Hallie stared helplessly through the cafe to where Geva and Erika were sitting, nuzzling each other at their table.

“I missed you,” he said, his voice now close enough that she could feel his breath against her ear. The touch of his fingertip on her skin caused her to flinch.

Hallie shivered and blinked, finally regaining her bearings enough to move. She managed only a step before his unforgiving grip clamped like a vise around her upper arm, forcing her to swing around to face him.

“Don’t think you’re going to get away from me again, Hallie. You are
mine
and you are coming home.”

“No.” She tried to force the word out but it only came as a hoarse whimper. She tried harder, tried to think. Erika and Geva could help if she could just get to them. The clutch on her arm tightened, his fingertips digging in brutally. She made a fist with her free hand and swung it around to punch him, but he dodged in time and her knuckles only glanced off the side of his neck. He caught her fist in his free hand and held her tight.

“Let me go!” she yelled, finally finding her voice. She turned and yelled toward the dining room of the restaurant, just hoping her voice would carry to the patio beyond where the others sat. “Erika! Geva!” But the pair were too absorbed in their own little world to hear.

David wrapped an arm around her waist, still holding her arm tightly with one hand. She dug her feet in, raising one heel to smash the top of his foot, but he dodged again. Her brothers had taught her to fight early on, but no amount of fore-knowledge could counter a man who knew how to fight as well as David did, and who had the muscular bulk and a killer’s instinct to back up that knowledge. What David wanted, David had always gotten. Except for her.

There was no use struggling. She just had to hope Kol knew where to find the asshole once Erika realized she was missing. She walked slowly, trying not to stumble when he pushed her forward toward the alley around the side of the restaurant where a sleek town car waited.

She slid into the confines of David’s car, silent and grim.

“That’s my girl,” David said. “How about a kiss hello?’

“You touch me, I will bite your fucking tongue off,” she gritted through her teeth.

“I’ve been
fantastic
,” he said, not missing a beat. “How have you been, baby? Had a few little adventures, I take it? You are a clever one. Put on a good chase—so good I was sure I’d lost you. But here you are, right back where you belong. It’s fate, I think.
Destiny
. Destiny brought you back to me, baby. And destiny will make you stay.”

She turned to glare at him then, meeting his shrewd, pale blue eyes with a withering stare. “You have no fucking idea what that word even means.”

David shook his perfectly groomed head with its close-cropped dark hair. He’d grown a narrow goatee since she’d last seen him and it only served to make him look more sinister than she remembered, offsetting the cruel set to his jaw even more. “I know it means you belong to me,” he said.

He leaned back slightly in the seat, letting his eyes rove over her. She’d worn one of Kol’s favorite dresses, a strappy summer number that was white with smatterings of black flowers printed on it. He’d always said it offset her blue eyes and sleek brunette hair perfectly. David seemed to appreciate it, as well, his eyebrows arching and his lips quirking in overt appreciation. His eyes narrowed when they rested on the mark that peeked out just above the cleft between her breasts.

“Did sweet little Hallie go and mess up her perfect skin with a tattoo? What the fuck is this?” He reached a hand out, extending fingertips to touch the mark. Hallie avoided looking down but hoped like hell the thing wasn’t glowing like it did whenever she was within about fifty feet of her lover. Just before David’s fingers came into contact with her skin, his eyes widened, then a million things seemed to happen at once.

The car lurched to a stop, throwing Hallie and David against the seat backs in front of them. The driver and David both cursed loudly.

“What the—” David began, glaring at the back of the driver’s head, but he didn’t get the words out before his door was wrenched open and a large hand reached in, grabbed him by the collar, and dragged him out, kicking in protest. Hallie barely managed to avoid getting knocked in the face with one stray Italian-leather loafer.

Her heart pounded at an unreal pace, but began to slow the second she saw the pair of large men staring down at her old lover, daring the bastard to speak.

“Oh, thank God, Kol.”

Geva grabbed David by both arms, restraining him. Kol met David’s defiant gaze with one even more menacing.

Hallie’s door opened behind her and Erika startled her with a squeeze of a hand on Hallie’s shoulder.