Dragon Heat 2 - Red Hot Dragon (8 page)

inside of her. The snug fit left him groaning and struggling

to maintain control. She rocked on his lap and wiggled her

tight ass until she found just the right angle and sighed with

pleasure.

Grasping her backside, he guided her movements. His

mouth outlined the curve of her throat while she rode his

cock. He sucked hard on her flushed skin and nipped the

area he’d turned bright red. She hissed at the love bite but

didn’t try to stop him from marking her a second time.

Although he loved having Avani bouncing on his lap,

his long legs and the chair’s height made it almost

impossible for her to move without a great deal of effort.

Wanting her to experience more pleasure, he wrapped an

arm around her waist and stood up with her cradled tight

to his chest. He placed her flat on her back atop the table

and drove into her. She gasped and arched her back, rising

up to meet his powerful thrusts.

With her hair fanning around her face and the purple

robe twisted around her arms and waist, she looked like

an erotic tableau. He gripped the table and pounded into

her welcoming heat. Head thrown back, she cried out and

scratched at his sides. Her pussy grew wetter and wetter

as he pushed her closer to the climax.

Licking the rough pad of his thumb, he lowered it to her

clitoris and began to massage the little bundle of nerves.

She moaned his name and slid her legs around his waist,

drawing him in tighter. Their bodies slapped together

noisily as the table shook beneath her. Out of the corner of

his eye, he spotted her mug of tea jumping toward the

table’s edge. There was no stopping its rattling

movements.

Just as Avani found her release, the mug fell. Like her,

it shattered loudly. Her pussy clenched and released him

in rhythmic bursts that wrung out his own orgasm. He

shoved balls deep and grunted her name as his seed

spilled inside her.

Legs like jelly now, he fell backward into the chair and

dragged her along with him. As he went soft still buried

inside her snug passage, she ran her hands up and down

his back and along his shoulders. Even though he couldn’t

hear her thoughts, he sensed she was thinking about

something serious. Finally, she spoke.

“We should go check on Mad.”

He drew back to look into her eyes. Of all the things

he’d expected her to say, that hadn’t been among them.

“We can’t.”

“We can. We probably shouldn’t,” she corrected. “But

he’s your family. I can tell this is eating you up with

worry.”

“It is, but he’s probably tied up with something at the

gym.”

She eyed him with suspicion. “You don’t believe that.

You’re trying to convince yourself he’s okay. Why?”

“I won’t put you at risk.” His protective instincts flared

and he embraced her. “The mating scent is strong on both

of us. I’m not sure even sunlight can burn this amount off.

If we leave the bunker, we’ll be inviting trouble.”

“We have at least four hours of daylight left. The

Knights wouldn’t dare attack in broad daylight, not in a

busy place like Houston where they would be easily

seen.”

Griffin felt so torn. On one hand, he was desperately

worried about Mad. It wasn’t like him to be

incommunicado. On the other hand, he needed to protect

Avani and keep her safe. He considered leaving her in the

underground lair where he could be reasonably assured of

her security, but the idea of being parted from her for even

a few hours made him sick. He’d never be able to

concentrate on finding Mad if he was separated from her.

With a slow exhale, he said, “We’ll leave but we’re

going to be fast about it. We go to his house and then

we’re coming right back. I’ll put in a call to Stig. He’s the

closest Brother. If we can’t find Mad, he’ll have to gather

the others and head out after him.”

Avani caressed his jaw and kissed him. “It’ll be all

right, Griffin. I’m sure it’s something silly that’s kept him

away from his phone.”

Griffin hoped with every fiber of his being that was

true.

Chapter Six

Avani’s core trembled with uneasiness as they

approached Ian Madoc’s front door. It wasn’t her own

discomfort but Griffin’s that she experienced so strongly.

Since they’d revealed their need for one another in her

bunker’s kitchen, the mate bond seemed to be growing

between them. Even though the prospect of being mated to

this hulking giant of a dragon had petrified her only a few

days ago, she now found it the most calming idea in the

world. She belonged with Griffin. Period. Full stop.

When Mad didn’t answer the loud knocks or the

incessant ringing of his doorbell, Griffin fished a key ring

from the pocket of his jeans. He unlocked the front door

but motioned for her to stay back. She remained on the

porch while Griffin entered the house.

She could feel him moving around inside the modest

home. It sat on a large lot on the outskirts of one of the

smaller towns just outside the Houston city limits. The

closest neighbors were hundreds of yards away. Their

homes were blocked by the thick walls of trees Mad had

running the perimeter of his home. Clearly, the guy liked

his privacy.

Griffin appeared in the open doorway and reached for

her hand. His gaze jumped to the skyline and his jaw

tightened with wariness. They’d been caught in heavy

traffic after a nasty wreck, so the drive to Mad’s place had

taken much longer than expected. “We need to hurry.”

She squeezed his hand and hoped to reassure him. “We

have plenty of time.” She caressed his chest and felt some

of the tension leave him. “We’re fine.”

His jaw visibly relaxed. He raised her fingertips to his

lips and kissed them. “I’m glad you came with me. You’re

bolstering my control.”

She’d suspected as much. Already on edge from the

rush of hormones accompanying the mating heat, Griffin’s

concern for his best friend threatened his usual coolness.

She’d noticed the white-knuckled grip on his steering

wheel and the way he’d nervously worked that cinnamon-

flavored gum between his teeth during the drive. A few

times, his irises had even taken on that deep crimson shade

of his dragon.

“Come.” Still holding her hand, he tugged her along

behind him. Being inside another man’s home without his

consent made her nervous. She’d never had very

heightened senses like other dragons, but today she had no

problem picking out Madoc’s scent. She shuddered as the

awful scent of him filled her nose. It stunned her. When

she’d been close to him at the gym, she’d found his smell

rather pleasant. Now it made her sick.

“What’s wrong?” Griffin glanced back at her as he led

her upstairs. “You’re wrinkling your nose.”

She put a hand to her face. Mad’s smell grew stronger

as they neared his bedroom. “His smell is bad.”

Griffin laughed. “I keep telling him to lay off the body

spray.”

She rolled her eyes and thumped his big arm. “I don’t

mean like that. I mean, it makes me feel weird when I

breathe it into my lungs.”

“It’s probably our mate bond. I suspect we’ve totally

imprinted on one another. One whiff of Stig’s Cora and I

bet I’ll be making a beeline for the door.”

Glad to learn her reaction to another male dragon’s

scent was normal even if bizarre, Avani glanced around

Mad’s bedroom. Griffin dropped her hand to search the

place. Her gaze lingered on the dream catchers and

crystals dangling above his bed and in all of his bedroom

windows. She found a pen on the bedside table and

guessed a dream journal had sat next to it at some point.

Obviously the man was trying to decipher his dreams.

“Griffin?” She spotted his cousin’s phone on the floor,

only barely visible under the quilt, and bent down to

retrieve it.

Griffin swore. “His wallet and keys were gone from the

bowl by the door where he usually keeps them. He left in a

hurry if he forgot his phone.”

She hesitated before asking, “Do you think it was the

dreams? Maybe he figured out who was causing them and

went to find him or her.”

“Unfortunately, I think you’re right.” His fingers

tightened around the phone. “He promised he wouldn’t do

anything stupid. He promised me he’d wait for me.”

“The dreams might have been from someone who

needed help. What if he couldn’t wait for you?”

Griffin growled. “I should have been with him! I should

have been available to help him.”

She flinched as his words washed over her. He wasn’t

blaming her directly, but it was her outrageous request that

had separated him from his family.

“No,” he said quickly and slipped his arms around her

waist. “I’m not blaming you or upset with you. I’m upset

with the situation.” He pressed a tender kiss to her

forehead. “Whatever happens with Mad, I don’t regret

locking myself away with you.”

She believed him. Resting her head against his chest,

she listened to the reassuring beat of his heart. “What are

you going to do about him?”

“I’ll call Stig and Ignatius. They’ll get a team together

and start looking for him.”

“Do you think he’s gone far?”

Griffin shrugged. “I’m not sure. I can’t…I can’t feel

him. Usually, I’m aware of his presence. It’s like a beacon

in the back of my mind. Right now, there’s nothing.”

She felt his arms tighten around her. Neither of them

dared to voice aloud what they both feared. If Griffin

couldn’t feel Mad, maybe the man was already dead. She

closed her eyes and silently prayed for his safety. The two

dragons were like brothers. Griffin would never forgive

himself if something terrible had happened to his best

friend.

While Griff made the necessary phone calls, Avani

poked around downstairs. She found a stack of books on

meditation and dreaming next to his laptop on the couch.

Plopping down on the well-worn leather cushions, she

flipped through the books and noted the places he’d

highlighted or tagged with sticky notes.

She opened his laptop and waited for the screen to

awaken. There were a dozen tabs open on his Internet

browser. All but the last two were sites dedicated to

interpreting dreams. When she opened a tab that revealed

a poster for a missing college student and another for a

resort in Cozumel, she began to piece together Mad’s

sudden disappearance. “Griffin, I think I found

something.”

In a flash, her dragon mate bounded down the stairs and

slid onto the couch. “What is it?”

“It’s a poster that’s been circulated online for a coed

named Ivy Morales who went missing on spring break in

Cozumel.” She turned the laptop screen toward him.

“Does she look familiar? Do you guys know her?”

Griffin visibly jerked as his gaze registered the young

woman’s face. He paled and practically jumped off the

couch. “I need to call Stig back.”

Avani’s chest constricted. “What’s wrong, Griffin?

Who is this girl?”

He rubbed the back of his neck and grimaced. “You

were probably only nine or ten when it happened, but

there was a couple—a mixed couple—who had a child.”

“Wait.” She held up her hand. “A dragon and a

Knight?”

“Yes. The woman was a dragon and her lover was a

Knight. They had to be madly in love with each other to

risk everything to be together.”

Suddenly her crazy plan to seduce Griffin to save her

species didn’t seem so wild. “That must have taken some

serious courage.”

“It did.”

“Did you know the dragon woman?”

He shook his head. “She belonged to Niko’s tribe, but I

wasn’t very familiar with her.”

“And the Knight?”

“He belonged to the Seer’s line.”

Her eyes widened slightly. The Knight blood was the

oldest, purest, and strongest in that line. It was the reason

they could see glimpses of the future.

“When their pregnancy was discovered, all hell broke

loose. Ignatius had ordered us to remain neutral when it

came to the couple, but when it became clear they would

have a child, we took them into protective custody.”

“Why?”

“We feared the child would be gifted. We needed to

make sure she was on our side, not
theirs
.”

“But?” Griffin’s tone told her there was something very

ugly about to be said.

“They managed to escape when the baby was a few

weeks old. The mother was weak from birth and the

Knights were able to close in on the couple.” He wiped

his hand down his face. “By the time we reached them,

they’d already killed the mother and were in the process

of torturing the Knight who had fathered the child. He

didn’t survive the night.”

“And the baby?”

A faraway expression crossed his face. “Ignatius

wanted her to have a chance at a normal life. Niko treated

her with some concoction he’d cooked up in his lab to