Dragonslayer (Twilight of the Gods Book 3) (20 page)

He hesitated, a complicated expression passing over his face. Used, she thought. He was used to being used. For his looks and his body and his willingness to serve. He shrugged. “If you don’t want to do it again then I’ll respect that, but don’t insult me by talking about demanding a repeat performance. I wasn’t coerced into sleeping with you last night and it wasn’t a performance. Not for me.”

“I didn’t mean to insult you,” she whispered.

He placed his hands on the counter behind her, caging her in. So close she could feel the heat of his body, but still—frustratingly—not touching her. It pissed her off. That he didn’t want to touch her. That she still wanted him to, even after everything. That this was the last of the time they had to spend together and they were wasting it fighting about things that couldn’t be changed.

The corner of his mouth curled in a bitter smile. “For the record, I don’t need to lie to get women into my bed. Or keep them there. I told you the truth.”

“I’m still angry with you.”

“I know.”

He lowered his mouth and brushed his lips across hers. Once lightly and then, when she reached out to touch his hip, he returned to kiss her more firmly. His tongue slipped between her parted lips, and she wrapped her arms around his waist, using him to steady herself as she lifted onto her toes. Adjusting the angle of their kiss, he deepened it.

When he finally pulled away, his face was flushed and his lips damp.

“Take me to bed, Christian.”

One more time. She could have that, couldn’t she?

Without hesitation, he lifted her into his arms. She could feel the flex of his muscles beneath her, around her, surrounding her with warmth and strength. He started for the stairs while she explored his neck with her tongue.

“Jace.” He groaned. “You’re going to make me drop you.”

“We’re going to burn the house down.”

“Yeah.”

“No.” She pulled back. “We’re going to burn the house down. I think you left the stove on. I smell smoke.”

“Fuck.”

He set her down gently and ran back to the kitchen. He returned a moment later, lifting her into his arms again. She could probably have run up the stairs faster, but maybe not. He made good time without dropping her or knocking her head into any walls. And then she was nude, on his bed. The one she thought she’d never see again.

She hadn’t planned on sleeping with Christian again. The first time had been like wading into a calm sea only to be dragged under by a powerful undertow. She’d gone in thinking it would be a simple indulgence, one night of hot sex with the most handsome man she was ever likely to have the opportunity to sleep with. Fun. She’d thought it would be fun, which was ridiculous, looking back on it.
Fun
was such a paltry word to describe sex with Christian. She was such an idiot. Doubly an idiot for diving in again. And she didn’t even care. Because whatever scars she walked away with would be worth it.

Christian touched his tongue to her nipple, and, when it drew into a tight little nub, pulled it gently into his mouth. Releasing her when she sighed, he moved lower, nuzzling the sensitive skin beneath her breast, and then pressing a kiss to the spot above her pounding heart. His hand skimmed down her belly, his fingers cool against her heated flesh. His skin always felt slightly cool to her, as if his normal body temperature was just subtly off. His mouth was warm, though, and when he pressed a finger inside of her, she felt a blaze of heat hot enough to consume them both.

Christian made a rough sound in the back of his throat as she moved against him, silently begging for more. He obliged by pressing deeper, seducing her with his mouth and clever hands. It wasn’t the sex pulling her under, it was the way he touched her—carefully, but with such focus that she knew the only thing he was thinking about right now was her. His one goal was bringing her as much pleasure as she could handle. Christian could be a very determined man. He was so smart and capable and strong, she couldn’t imagine him failing at anything he set out to do. Right now all of the fierce, single-minded attention was focused on her.

She tasted sweat on his skin. Smoothed her hands down the strong, bunched muscles of his back. He lifted his head to look at her as he finally slid inside. She had to close her eyes against the intimacy of that look. He held himself deep, let out a slow, ragged breath, and then he began to move, slowly at first, letting her feel every hard inch. He studied her face as if trying to memorize each freckle. When she touched his cheek to draw him down, he kissed her as if it were the only thing he wanted to do in the whole world. Her eyes fluttered closed as his lips moved on hers. She let her hands drift down over the hard turn of his shoulders to the firm muscles in his arms.

Shifting his weight, he braced himself on his elbows. Brushed his lips over the crest of her cheek and then nuzzled the hair at her temple. He whispered her name with such aching sweetness she thought her heart might break. It didn’t. It wouldn’t. She wouldn’t break over him. She would enjoy every moment they had together, lose herself completely in the feel of his body and the comfort of his touch.

“Christian,” she whispered. “I—”

He slipped an arm beneath her hips, adjusting the angle of her hips to drive deeper. “I know,” he said. “Let go. I’ve got you.”

She did, crying out as the orgasm overtook her. Digging her fingertips into Christian’s bunched muscles as he followed her a heartbeat later. Christian withdrew before she’d even managed to catch her breath. He stretched out beside her and gathered her into his strong arms. She rested her head against his chest and listened to the slowing thud of his heartbeat.

She could almost feel the minutes slipping by. She didn’t want to move forward. She only wanted to stay here in this little bubble, her and Christian, warm and safe and together. She wondered if Kamis and Raquel could seal them in, like they’d planned to do with the dragon. She might not mind that kind of prison.

“Christian?” She pitched her voice low, not wanting to wake him if he’d fallen asleep. The arm he’d slung across her belly was heavy and warm. His breathing even and slow. She was almost surprised when he answered.

“Mmm?”

She wrapped her hand around his wrist. She could feel his pulse. Human, or close enough. It wasn’t so completely impossible, was it? “I don’t want this to be over.”

He didn’t say anything as he shifted her in his arms. He kissed her forehead, her cheek and her mouth. Then he rolled her beneath him and entered her again.

Chapter Twenty-Seven

Aiden called when the sun was just beginning to spill through the curtains. Her head was pillowed on Christian’s chest, his arm wrapped loosely around her back. At some point, they’d kicked the blankets off the bed. Her backside was cool, but where she was pressed to Christian was so warm she didn’t mind.

“Ignore it,” she murmured, and burrowed her nose against his skin.

His arm tightened around her, but then he sighed and reached for the phone. It was a brief conversation. From the one side she could hear of it, Aiden had decided on a way to explain the attacks to the outside world so that she could keep her job. She felt only mild curiosity about it at the moment. The way the light hit Christian’s abdominal muscles was much more pleasant to contemplate. When he ended the call, he smoothed his hand down her hair.

“Time for us to get up.”

“How about we just stay here today?”

He caught her chin and lifted her face. His gaze was very nearly solemn. She thought it was touched with regret, but she might be misinterpreting that.

“We’ve still got work to do,” he said. “We’re blaming the missing animals on a pack of feral dogs. It shouldn’t be hard to sell. You already reported one dead stray when you sent in Aiden’s report.”

“There was no dead stray.”

“They don’t know that,” he said. “Fen will back up the claim, and it so happens there was a dog hit out by the highway last night. Killed by a truck. Fen has it at the shelter so you can examine it officially. There’s a cave just outside our border where we can set up a fake den. While you’re examining the dog, we’ll go scatter some gnawed chicken bones inside it.”

She arched an eyebrow. “Gnawed?”

“A few of the hounds have already volunteered for the job. Will it be enough?”

“Mark will buy it because there won’t be any other attacks. The video? So long as there aren’t more like it, everyone will assume it’s a hoax. Carl will let it drop, I think, as long as no one is pushing him to do more. Anna will likely come out here to poke around for herself.”

“We’ll take care of her.”

“Explain what you mean by that.”

He cast her an amused look. “I thought she was giving you a hard time.”

“That doesn’t mean I want to see her get hurt.”

He stroked a fingertip down the side of her face. “We’re not going to hurt your friend. Do you really think we would do that?”

An image came to her mind of him driving his sword into the dragon’s neck…but that had been life and death with no way out. He wasn’t cruel, and he wouldn’t hurt someone if there was another choice. He hadn’t let Kamis wipe her brain even though it would have been easier.

“I know you wouldn’t.” She lifted her face and kissed the base of his neck. “I wouldn’t like you so much if I thought otherwise.”

He dropped a kiss to the top of her head and disentangled himself from her embrace. She might have been insulted by that if he hadn’t taken her hand to pull her up behind him.

“The shower,” he said with a wicked little smile, “is big enough for two.”

Chapter Twenty-Eight

It took three days for Jacey to gather her evidence and contact Mark and Carl, both of whom were surprisingly easy to convince. Or perhaps it wasn’t surprising. Both were eager to have things wrapped up, and the clan was very helpful, producing another two witnesses. One had recently lost a cat, and it was easy enough to blame the imaginary pack for its death. The other said she’d been chased while jogging in the woods. She’d made it to her car in time and hadn’t reported it because she thought it was her friend’s pit bull. She hadn’t wanted to see it put down, so she’d quietly talked to him about checking his fence to make sure Elvis didn’t get out again. Anna didn’t take the news well, and Jacey regretted that. She thought that under other circumstances, she and Anna might have been friends. She respected the reporter, and it was embarrassingly clear that Anna definitely did not return the sentiment. It couldn’t be helped. The dragon was dead and there wouldn’t be any more attacks. When animals stopped going missing, Anna would have no choice but to set the story aside.

Christian drove her back to Aiden’s house, where she’d left her truck. When they pulled up, she was surprised to see so many other cars in the driveway. She looked at Christian questioningly, but he only shrugged, his expression unreadable.

“They wanted to say goodbye.”

Unexpectedly, tears sprang to her eyes, and she had to blink them back. She hadn’t expected anyone to come say goodbye to her.

“You okay?”

She nodded and swiped at her eyes with the corner of her sleeve. “Honestly? I didn’t think your clan liked me much.”

“They don’t like outsiders much. You’re the only pure Midgardian most of them have ever known.”

She climbed out of the car. The sky was clear and cloudless today, and while it was a little bit chilly out, the sun was shining. A beautiful day. Christian took her hand as they walked toward the house, and he held on to it even when the front door opened and the members of the hunt came outside to join them. Jacey noticed more than one set of eyes linger on their joined hands, but she didn’t care. She was leaving anyway, and she’d take every second with Christian she could get.

Grace surprised her with a hug. “You’re sure about this?”

No. She wasn’t sure, especially at this moment. She hadn’t known these people very long, but they’d been through a lot together. She’d lived with the same roommate for two years, and the only thing they shared was a fondness for
Doctor Who
and a lease. A heaviness had settled in her chest, and she couldn’t seem to shake it.

But she nodded at Grace’s whispered question and smiled as she pulled away. When Kamis stepped forward, she held up her hand. “You’re not here to wipe away my memories, are you?”

“Do you wish me to? I wouldn’t blame you if you wanted to put all this behind you.”

“Are you kidding? I wouldn’t have missed it for the world. Kam—I’m sorry, I’ve forgotten your real name. Christian told it to me.”

“Kamis will do. Some names are better left forgotten.”

“It’s true, though?” She studied his face, looking for some sign of divinity. He only looked tired. There was a bruise on his cheek. She wondered why Alan hadn’t healed it, but she didn’t want to pry.

“Not a god, only the son of one. My mother was a servant and I was never accepted into the great halls.”

Still, it was as close as she was likely to get. She stepped closer, lowering her voice. “You’ll look out for him? For all of them? If there are more things that start to cross over, you’ll be able to figure out a way to stop them, right?”

He hesitated but then nodded solemnly. “I will do my best.”

It would have to be good enough. She imagined Kamis’s best would be far better than her own. It was silly to think she could make a difference if she stayed. They didn’t
want
her to stay.

The twins wished her the best of luck, and Raquel invited her to come back for a more peaceful visit. Fen hugged her too. Stepping back, he shoved his hands in his pockets. “Any problems with your boss?”

She shook her head. “He’s not happy it took me so long to figure things out, but it’s nothing I’ll lose my job over.”

“Good. If he does give you any trouble, let us know and we’ll figure something out. Who knows? With the bridges healing, we might need your help next time covering up a troll invasion.”

Her horror at the thought must have shown on her face, because Fen reached out and chucked her under the chin. “Just kidding. I’m pretty sure we can handle the trolls on our own. Much bigger than that and you’ll probably see it on the evening news.”

Aiden was the last to say goodbye, and as he moved forward, Christian squeezed her hand. “I have something for you,” he said. “I’ll be back in a minute.”

She thought about asking him to wait. More than anyone else in the clan, Aiden had never bothered to hide his disapproval. She watched Christian jog up the stairs, and then turned to find Aiden watching her with a faint smile. “So you’re really going to leave us? I was just getting used to having you around.”

“We have a deal, remember?”

“I do. I could release you from it if you’d like.”

She frowned at him. “Were you testing me?”

Aiden glanced back toward the house and shook his head. “Not you.”

“What else am I going to do?” she said. “I can’t bring him home with me, and he hasn’t asked me to stay.”

“Were you waiting for an invitation? I watched you take on a dragon. I can’t believe you’re going to chicken out now.”

The dragon had been easy. She met Aiden’s intense gaze. “Why do you care? You don’t even like me.”

His smile widened, and it transformed his stern face. Christian had said they were distantly related—third cousins or something. For the first time, she could see the resemblance. And a glimpse of what Grace saw in him. “My wife wouldn’t forgive me if I didn’t try to set this right. She likes to see people happy.”

“And you don’t?”

“I prefer safe.” He tipped his head to the side in a shrug. “But happy is good. And you make him happy. Happier than I’ve ever known him to be.”

She looked at him doubtfully. “He doesn’t seem happy.”

“Well, just now he’s miserable because he’s doing the honorable thing and letting you go. It hurts to rip your heart out like that. Trust me on that one.”

She fell silent for a time, staring at the door as she considered that. She’d tried talking to Christian about how she felt—the big mess of how she felt—but he always found a way to distract her from the conversation. In the end, she’d accepted that as an answer in and of itself.

“I understand it’s a lot to take on—all of us, this place,” Aiden said quietly. “This life isn’t for everyone.”

It wasn’t a bad life, though. There were dragons and magic and a whole new world to learn about. She didn’t want to leave, but how could she stay here?

“Don’t worry about me talking,” she told Aiden. “I won’t ever tell anyone about what I saw here.”

She was surprised to see disappointment on his face, but he only extended his hand. “A pleasure to know you, Jacey.”

“Likewise.” She shook his hand and then looked past him at the small farm. The perfectly innocuous-looking outbuilding and the barren fields stretching away for miles. No one looking at this place would ever suspect there was any kind of magic here. She smiled wistfully. “I’m really going to miss it.”

The door opened, and Christian stepped outside carrying a box. As if that were some sort of signal, everyone moved away, waving as they headed back inside or left for their cars. Christian stopped right in front of her. “All ready?”

No. She wasn’t ready at all. “I guess so.”

“You’re going to do great out there, you know,” he said.

“Out there?”

“Whatever you decide to do next.” He lifted his hand to cradle her cheek, and traced the arch of her brow with the edge of his thumb. “If you can handle a dragon, what else is going to stop you? Here.” He pressed the box into her hands. “This is for you.”

The box was square and heavy, made from recycled paper and tied with a silky teal ribbon. “What is it?”

“Open it up and see.”

She sat down on the porch steps, ignoring the cold that seeped through her jeans as she teased the ribbon free and let it fall over her knees. She lifted the top and set it aside. She frowned at the contents.

“It’s…” She looked up. Christian was watching her intently. “Is it real?”

He crouched down next to her and touched the smooth surface of the egg resting inside the box. The shell was smooth, but held all the rainbow iridescence of a dragon scale. “It’s real. We found it in that ice cave. Apparently the Vanir warrior stole more than one egg. Kamis has spelled this one to stone. It’s trapped unless something wakes it up. It’s still alive.”

“And you’re just going to give it to me? Aiden is all right with that?”

He nodded. “It’s safer with you than here, so close to the fault with the instability of the magic fields. It will remain dormant out there.” He lowered his voice. “If you do decide to ‘discover’ it, do it somewhere far away from us, okay?”

She stared at the egg for a long moment. It was beautiful. Priceless. And he was entrusting it to her. She started to cry.

“Hey.” He cradled her face, lifting it until she looked him in the eyes. Her tears spilled over, and he swiped them away with his thumbs. “Don’t cry. Please, Jace. Don’t cry. I thought you would be happy about this.”

“About the egg? It’s beautiful. Beautiful and perfect and rare. But the rest? I don’t want to leave, Christian. I thought I could do it, but I can’t.”

He stilled. His voice gentled. “You can. I know exactly how brave and how strong you are. You—”

“I don’t want to go.” She looked up, but he was blurry. “I’m not ready to leave this place. I’m not ready to leave you.”

She wasn’t ready to talk about marriage or make any promises for the future. She only knew this one true thing—she didn’t want to leave. It seemed like a small thing, really, but admitting it felt like jumping off the cliff again with a dragon on her heels and no magical safety net waiting to break her fall. The air felt thick in her lungs, her heart like it was trying to pound its way out of her chest. She was taking chances. Reaching for what she wanted. If anything was going to kill her, it was this.

Christian smoothed the hair from her forehead and studied her face. “You really want to stay?”

She released a long, shuddering breath. “There’s nothing I want more. Do you think the clan would come around?”

He hesitated and then shook his head. “Some of them are already halfway there, but there will always be people who will see you as an outsider. My mother, for one. My sister is more flexible, but neither of them live here.”

That would be hard. She knew how important family was to him.

“Your duty to the clan,” she said. “I can’t give you little Æsir hunters.”

“Fuck tradition,” he said fiercely, and grinned like the sound of it pleased him. “The world is changing. Who’s to say my children won’t be better off having a foot in two worlds rather than one?” Then his smile faded a bit. “We might have to leave. You gave Aiden your vow, and—”

She shook her head. “Aiden practically
dared
me to stay.”

Christian breathed a short laugh. “The job in New York…”

She swiped at her eyes. “There are no dragons in New York. I was going to give up my job anyway.”

“For bigger and better things.”

Didn’t he understand? She touched his cheek. “I’ve found that.”

The corner of his mouth turned up. “Weigh me against the whole world, will you?”

She would. She had, and he’d won. She set the dragon egg carefully in its box and then turned to reach for him. Curling her fingers in his hair, she pulled him closer for a kiss. She was messing this up. She didn’t know anything about seduction. She only knew what she wanted. At first, Christian only let her kiss him, but then he sighed and kissed her back. His tongue delved into her mouth, as firm and gentle as he’d always been with her. God, did the man know how to kiss. He sat down on the step beside her and then pulled her onto his lap.

Pressing his cheek to the top of her head, he just held her for a moment. His arms were strong, wrapped tightly around her body, but this close she could feel the tremor running just beneath his skin. She could hear his heart thudding beneath her ear. She closed her eyes.

She was certain he was going to tell her to leave, because it was the best thing for her and for his clan. Too complicated and messy. It
was
complicated, and she had no idea if it would really work out between them, but she was willing to take a chance.

“Stay with me, sweet Jacey,” Christian said softly. “We’ll find a way to make it work. I want you to stay.”