Sassy Ever After: Dragon Sass (Kindle Worlds Novella) (7 page)

Then he rolled her over to her back in one swift movement, propping himself over her on his arms. They hardly lost any rhythm at all and she loved the way his dark eyes fixed on hers. There was a fierce hunger in his eyes, as if finally having her this way wasn’t enough—he wanted more. She lifted a hand to touch his cheek, rubbing the stubble with her thumb, then slipped a hand behind his head.

Kai responded, leaning in to kiss her, his tongue moving into her mouth, exploring with an intensity that sent shockwaves through her body. And still, he didn’t stop his relentless onslaught, his cock pounding into her over and over. Jules clung to him, arms going around his neck, legs wrapped around his waist.

She broke the kiss, breathless, nuzzling her face against his neck, keeping his weight on her. She wanted all of him, to be taken and crushed and wrecked by him. Kai let his arms collapse and wrapped them around her shoulders, rutting into her now, lost in sensation. She moaned and thrust back, feeling her clit pulsing in response. She wanted to come all over him like this, and he was going to make her.

“Kai,” she whispered, rolling her pelvis against his, aching for more friction. Just a little more…

“Touch yourself,” he panted, up on his arms again over her, spreading her thighs wide with his as he moved to kneel between her legs.

It was like he could read her every movement, grant her every unspoken wish.

He groaned, watching her hand slip down between them. She took a moment to feel him, to feel them moving together, at the place where they were joined, one. Kai gritted his teeth when she did that, his eyes closing momentarily. His movements slowed just slightly and she felt the hot throb of his cock in her fist.

“I want you to come with me.” His eyes opened, fixing on hers. “Touch yourself, Jules. I want to watch you.”

She bit her lip, but she was beyond self-consciousness now. Her fingers circled her clit, rubbing hard and fast. It wasn’t going to take her long, but from the look on his face, she thought he was close, too. His brow was knitted, mouth drawn, taut, his gaze focused between their legs where she was working so hard to make herself come for him.

“Kai,” she whispered, sliding her other hand behind his neck, damp with sweat—the musky scent of their sex filled the room—and her fingers slipped up through the soft wings of his hair. “Look at me.”

He did, his eyes so dark and full of emotion, it seared her heart. The slippery wet sound of their lovemaking filled the room, the incessant slap of their bodies like the sweetest music, and Jules still couldn’t get enough of him. She could have done this forever, on and on, until they both collapsed from utter exhaustion and dehydration.

But her body refused to cooperate with this plan. Her body was reaching its peak, and Kai was taking her there. He lowered his forehead to hers, so close everything became blurry. He panted, his breath fiery hot against her face, and she inhaled him, as if he could give her life this way. A life she’d never even known she’d been missing until he appeared.

“Oh! Kai!” she cried, hips rising, her fingers forking on either side of her throbbing clit, squeezing gently as if she could contain her climax. But she couldn’t. Her pussy began to clamp down around his shaft, her orgasm burning through her like a sudden fever.

“Yes, that’s it, come for me,” he breathed, lowering his lips to kiss her as she came. She gasped, pulling his breath into her lungs with a hot, searing shudder.

Kai let out a low moan into her mouth as he gave one last tremendous thrust, and she felt him going off inside her, erupting with the force of a volcano, scorching her insides with white-hot streams of his seed. Jules pressed up against him so they were belly to belly, so she could feel him tremble like an earthquake in her arms. He called her name again and again, burying his face in her hair as he ground his pelvis against hers so hard it hurt, and she welcomed every bit of him.

Finally, they were still, their breathing slowly returning to normal. She clung to him when Kai went to roll off her, not wanting to give him up, not yet. He obliged, propping himself up on his elbow so he could look at her, his fingers brushing wet, curling strands of her hair away from her face. She stroked his hair, his shoulder, his back, a little afraid to speak and break the spell in the afterglow of their lovemaking.

She hadn’t been a virgin for a long time—and she’d been with guys since Stuart. Not a lot. Maybe a handful. But she’d never had a lover like Kai before. Never quite had an experience like this one. They’d only known each other a month, maybe two—and she knew it was crazy—but she felt as if she’d known him a lifetime. An eternity. As if she’d known him before she was born, like he was somehow part of her DNA, on a cellular level.

“What is that?” Kai cocked his head, those hazel eyes full of light. The way he looked at her made her want to melt.

“What is what?” She traced the line of a tattoo on his shoulder that disappeared somewhere down his back as he slowly rolled off her. She let him go this time.

“That song. You were humming a song.”

“I was?” She smiled, shrugging. She hadn’t even realized. “Something my mother taught me. I can’t remember the words. Just the tune. She used to sing it to me when I was a baby, I think.”

“It’s beautiful.” His lips brushed her cheek and he breathed in deeply. “You’re beautiful.”

“No.” She shook her head, stretching like a cat. His eyes lit up when she did that. “But I am hungry.”

“We can still get a burger at the Wolf’s Den.”

She groaned at the thought. “That would mean I’d have to eat crow.”

“Oh?” Kai raised his eyebrows.

“Barb,” she reminded him. “I’m going to have to hear ‘I told you so’ forever.”

“Well, I can leave,” he said, the corner of his mouth twitching. “Then you can keep your pride—”

“No way.” Jules threw her arms around his neck, pressing kisses all over his cheek. “I’ll eat crow forever as long as I have you.”

“You have me,” he assured her, his arms going around her, tight. She couldn’t breathe for a minute, he held her so hard.

“Do I?”

He nodded slowly, his eyes serious. “More than you could ever know.”

“For weeks, I’ve been afraid to breathe,” she confessed. “I guess I was afraid I was going to scare you away.”

“I know the feeling.” He chuckled, shaking his head.

“But now…” She pulled in a breath and let it out slowly. “I feel newborn, somehow… like I just took a breath for the first time. Before you… there was nothing. I don’t know how else to explain it…”

“I know.” He nodded again and when she looked into his eyes, she saw he did know. Somehow, he did. “Jules, I’ll be honest with you. I haven’t had a lover in a very long time.”

“It didn’t show.” She grinned.

“I don’t mean I haven’t had sex.” He gave a low laugh. “I mean… I haven’t had… this.”

He pulled her hand from where it was resting on his shoulder and pressed his palm to hers. It still amazed her, how tiny she was compared to him. And she wasn’t a small girl. He twined their fingers together, palm to palm, and then leaned in to kiss her.

“What is this?” she whispered when they parted, almost afraid to ask the question. “Us… what are we doing?”

“I don’t know about you, but I’m…” He took a deep breath, swallowing before he answered “Falling. Hard. Really fucking hard.”

“I love you, Kai.”

The words bubbled up before she could think about them, before she could judge whether it was the right time, whether or not she should wait for him to say it first. None of those things mattered, not anymore. This was Kai, and with him, she didn’t have to play the same silly dating games she did with other men. This man was hers, was somehow meant just for her, although she couldn’t have articulated or explained it.

For a moment, he didn’t speak at all, and she was afraid. Then he leaned in to kiss her, soft and slow, putting everything he felt into it, and she took it all in. When they parted, she knew. He didn’t have to say it—and she would have been utterly satisfied if she never heard the words—but he did anyway, and her heart soared.

“Oh God, I love you so much, Jules.” His eyes closed for a minute as he drew her hand against his chest, close to his heart. She felt it beating, strong and steady. “It scares me how much.”

His confession cracked her open completely. She’d felt the same, for weeks. They’d spent so much time together—at first, out of necessity, as the planning came together for the tournament, and then, later, simply because it seemed so natural—it had grown harder and harder to deny how she felt about him.

Okay, at first, it had been a matter of pride. She didn’t want to admit Barb was right. Then, as her feelings had grown stronger for him, she’d started being a little afraid of their intensity. How could she feel so much, so fast, for a man she hardly knew?

But she did. And she couldn’t deny it anymore.

“Don’t be scared.” She rubbed her hand against his chest, over his heart. “I’m not going anywhere, I promise.”

A sharp look of pain flickered in his eyes and Jules knew he’d been hurt by some woman in the past. He talked about it briefly, early on, but hadn’t spoken of it again. She didn’t know what had happened, or why, but she wanted him to know she wasn’t going to do that to him. Jules would never hurt this man, not if she could help it.

“You know so much about me already,” she told him. “I don’t want any secrets between us, Kai. You know about Stuart, my parents, everything. I won’t keep anything from you. I love you too much to do that to you.”

“You know what? I’m hungry now, too.” Kai kissed her, briefly, rolling over to swing his legs off the bed. Jules was going to press it—call him on his changing-subjects tactic—but then she saw his back.

“Oh my God—you have wings!”

Kai stood, glancing back over his shoulder, and grinned. “Oh yeah. I forgot you hadn’t seen them.”

His back was covered with two perfectly symmetrical wings. The tattoos spanned his shoulders, the top of each curving up toward his neck, while the wings themselves spread across his back as if they were just beginning to open. They weren’t feathery, like a bird’s wings, or an angel’s. They were more like a bat or a demon—or a dragon.

Jules crawled across the bed and stood behind him, tracing the lines with her fingers. The tattoo was full color, a wonder to behold. Each scale had been outlined in black, and the green they’d been painted with was almost iridescent. It was so realistic, she could almost imagine him spreading those wings and flying away.

“Do you like it?” he asked.

“It’s beautiful.” She put her arms around his waist, pressing her cheek against the warm skin of his back. She felt completely at home like this and found herself humming again.

“Now
that’s
beautiful,” he murmured, his hands moving over hers, keeping her against him.

It was her phone that interrupted them and Jules sighed, crawling back over the bed to dig it out of her jeans pocket while Kai went into the bathroom connected to her room.

“Hello?” She almost didn’t pick up—it was Barb. She wasn’t eager to start eating crow. Even if she thought Kai was more than worth it.

“Jules…” Barb’s voice was choked.

“Barb? What’s wrong?” She grabbed her shirt off the floor, pulling it on as Kai came out of the bathroom.

“Jules, I’m sorry… it’s Stuart.”

“What about Stuart?” Jules stopped, sinking slowly down onto the edge of the bed. “What’s happened?”

She glanced up as Kai’s hand fell onto her shoulder, a concerned look in his eyes.

She could hardly breathe as Barb began to tell her. It was when Jules heard the words—
car accident
—that she dropped the phone. Kai caught her in one arm and picked up the phone, talking to Barb, but his voice was so far away.

Jules couldn’t quite believe it.

Stuart was gone.

Blue Creek’s one and only funeral home had changed since the last time Jules had seen it, but just walking in brought back memories like it was yesterday. She expected to see Hector Reed, the funeral director who had helped her make all the arrangements for her parents, but the secretary told her he’d retired.

Hector had been kind to her, she remembered, and she was a little disappointed he wasn’t there. But she also hadn’t been looking forward to reliving those memories with him, having flashbacks of sitting across from him talking about what kind of caskets to purchase and what kind of flowers to put on them. She already had enough of a sense of deja-vu sitting in the waiting room.

She still couldn’t quite believe Stuart was gone.

Her phone buzzed and she checked it, smiling to see a text from Kai.

Sure you’re okay? I can be there in five minutes if you need me.

She texted back:
You’re sweet. But you handle the site. I got this. It’s the least I can do for him. The last thing, I guess…

That thought brought tears to her eyes and she blinked them back, glancing around the empty waiting room. There was no one but the receptionist, and she imagined she was used to seeing a lot of tears. There were several strategically placed boxes of Kleenex around the room.

I’m so sorry, baby. Promise me you’re okay? I can leave the guys to deal with this if I have to.

One set of the bleachers they’d installed for the tournament had collapsed on one end during weight testing and they had to go back to the manufacturer. This had left Kai scrambling to get another set delivered and set up in time. She did kind of want him there, just for moral support, but she knew this whole tournament thing was for her ranch—in spite of everything he kept saying about mutually beneficial arrangements—and what he was doing right then was all for her.

Jules squared her shoulders, texting Kai back.
I promise. I’ll be home soon.

Barb had offered to come, too, but she had so many people coming in from all over, she was having a hard time finding room for them all. Blue Creek’s two motels and one hotel were completely booked, and several of the surrounding towns’ hotels had sold out as well that weekend. Barb also had all her family in town, including distant relatives they hadn’t seen in years. The Wolfe clan even had shifters coming in from other continents—Barb had managed to use the tournament as an excuse to have a sort of shifter family reunion.

That meant she had a house full of people, though, and Jules didn’t feel right dragging her away from it. Besides, Barb had never liked Stuart. Or, really, she’d never thought he was good for Jules. And she couldn’t really argue with that, could she? If Barb knew what Jules now knew—that Stuart had been behind her parents’ deaths—she’d be even more angry at him.

But to her credit, Barb hadn’t said, “I told you so.” Not about Stuart, and not about Kai, either. She’d been genuinely broken up about Stuart, and seemed only happy and not the least bit smug that Jules and Kai were clearly together.

So Jules had come by herself, because there was no one else to do it. Stuart’s mother had died during their senior year of high school. Her drug of choice had been heroin, and the few times Jules had been in Stuart’s house, the woman had been passed out on a couch in a robe, the television blaring
General Hospital.
Stuart’s father hadn’t been in his life since he was a baby and she had no idea where he might be now. He had an aunt somewhere in Texas—his mother’s sister—but that was it.

She realized she’d have to go through Stuart’s things. And probably everything his mother had left behind, too—he still lived in the same little bungalow he had his whole life. The house had been purchased by Stuart’s grandfather and had been passed to his mother. It was paid off and would have to be sold. She wondered if Stuart had left any sort of will, but she doubted it. The house would probably go to pay creditors, she thought, glancing at her phone again, seeing Kai had sent her one last text message. Just a heart.

“Miss Monroe?”

She looked up as the funeral director came into the waiting room. He was as opposite from Hector as she could have imagined. Hector had been a small, rotund man, his skin the color of coffee and cream, with a big, black mustache and broad smile. He was always warm, his voice kind. Hector had exuded sympathy, which made his job perfect for him.

“Yes.” Jules slipped her phone into her purse and stood.

“I’m Nigel Abaddon, the funeral director.” The man was ancient—okay, maybe not that old, but still. His hand was cold as she shook it. His lips were almost lipstick-red in his long, pale face and she noticed his top two teeth were crooked and yellowed as he smiled at her. She actually had to fight the urge to wipe her hand on her jeans when he let go. “I’m so sorry for your loss.”

“Thank you,” she murmured as he led the way down the hall.

It was Hector’s old office, but instead of smiling pictures of his children on his desk, this man had almost nothing. Just a blotter, a MacBook, and a small, weeping Madonna statue. But her tears were red, like she was crying blood.

“Please, sit.” Nigel nodded to the chair across from his desk as he took the one behind it, tenting his fingers. They were incredibly long, and she wondered if he played piano. His nails were square and meticulously clean. “I understand you already have a plot purchased?”

“Uh, yes.” She’d told the receptionist when she called to make this appointment that she wanted to use the plot next to her parents. They’d intended it for her. “It was pre-paid.”

“That’s fine.” He picked a piece of paper up off the blotter, studying it. “Did you take a look at the sample caskets in the lobby?”

“Yes. Actually, I looked at it all on your web site.” Just five years ago, she’d had to sit in this office and go through catalogs of flowers and caskets, but even the Blue Creek funeral home had finally come into the twenty-first century. “I think I pretty much have everything all picked out.”

The thought of Stuart’s body in one of those caskets made her feel nauseous. She hadn’t been to see his body. She just couldn’t. But Sheriff Kline said he’d been shocked by how little damage Stuart had sustained. He’d been thrown from the Firebird like a rag doll when it went over the guard rail—just like he had been the day her parents died, Jules thought—but drunk’s luck had failed him this time. He’d broken his neck, literally, in the fall.

Jules dug out the piece of paper she’d written the details on, handing it over. “Here you go, Mr. Abaddon. I made a list.”

“You can call me Nigel.” He gave her a smile, looking over her list. “Very good. Everything seems in order. Did you want a graveside service?”

“Oh.” She blinked, trying to imagine herself standing beside her parents’ graves while they lowered Stuart’s casket into the ground. “Is that necessary?”

“No, of course not, it’s just…” He sighed and shook his nearly bald head. What little hair he did have was just wisps of white he hadn’t bothered to comb. The top of his shiny scalp was mottled with age spots. “We have an unfortunate situation in the cemetery.”

“What kind of situation?”

“I’m afraid we’ve been the target of vandals.” The old man sighed, looking up at her with rheumy blue eyes. “Most likely teenagers. Sheriff Kline said they ‘tagged’ many of the headstones with spray paint. Different symbols that might indicate gang activity? I’m not really up on teen lingo. I just know our cemetery needs to be cleaned up and we have very limited resources.”

“Oh no.” Jules sat back in her seat, stunned.

“It’s very recent and we haven’t had time to notify the next of kin about…” He cleared his throat, looking down at the piece of paper that had been sitting on his blotter. “Oh dear. Oh my dear, I’m so sorry…”

“What?” she asked, confused. “Sorry for… what?”

“These plots…” He pointed to the paper, but she couldn’t see it. “These are two of the graves they desecrated.”

“Desecrated…” She repeated the word, trying to make it sink in. What did that mean, exactly?

“It’s truly awful. I’m so sorry to be the one to tell you this.”

“Tell me what?”

“Your parents… their bodies…” The old man cleared his throat. “They’re missing.”

“Missing.” She blinked at him, unable to really comprehend what he was saying. “Someone… what? Dug up my parents? Is that what you’re telling me?”

He nodded sadly. “I’m afraid so.”

“But… what in the world… why? Why would someone do that?”

“I don’t know.” He shook his head again. “The older I get, the more I realize there are some sick people in this world. And we may never know their real motivations.”

“I don’t even know what to say.” Jules found herself shaking, she was so angry. Even her voice trembled.

“We’ve made a police report, and we have every hope the Blue Creek police department will catch the culprits.”

“Is there any chance that… they might recover… the…” She swallowed, shivering. “Bodies?”

“I don’t know. But we’re truly sorry,” he told her. “And I’d be happy to give you fifty-percent off everything on this list.”

He lifted the piece of paper Jules had handed him, outlining everything she’d planned for Stuart’s funeral.

A half-off funeral. It didn’t seem like something that should come at a discount. But Jules wasn’t going to turn him down, given her financial situation. And in spite of Kai’s offer to pay for whatever she needed, she wanted to do this herself. For Stuart.

“Well, thank you.” Jules opened her purse, digging into her wallet and pulling out her credit card. “Can you put it on this?”

“Certainly.” He stood, taking her card and picking up her list. “I’ll have my receptionist total things up and give you a receipt.”

* * * *

And just like that, it was over.

She hadn’t wanted a graveside service, but Stuart’s Aunt Ginny had flown in from Texas. She said she hadn’t seen him since her sister’s funeral, but she’d gotten married since and had two kids. Aunt Ginny and her husband had insisted on going to the cemetery. The funeral director hadn’t been happy about that, and when Jules saw the graveyard, she realized why.

The cemetery was located behind the funeral home, at the end of a long, winding drive. Everywhere she looked, headstones had been tagged with spray paint. She’d expected profanity and obscene pictures, but what she saw were strange symbols in just three primary colors—red, blue and yellow.

Most of the newest headstones at the front of the graveyard had been tagged with red and blue. Her parents’ graves each had the same mark on them in red. The back of the cemetery, containing the oldest graves, had mostly yellow markings on the headstones.

At least they’d covered up the graves where the vandals had dug up bodies. Jules could tell which ones had been disturbed—her parents’ graves were both laid with fresh sod. It was a lush, bright green, different from the grass around it. She had counted six of them, standing there with Kai’s arm around her shoulder as the minister prayed over a hole in the ground.

Stuart’s Aunt Ginny cried but Jules didn’t. She watched Aunt Ginny’s kids chase each other around the casket. No one stopped them. So many people—and shifters—had come, Jules was shocked. There had been no viewing, no reception at the funeral home itself. But there were dozens of cars parked in the cemetery and funeral home parking lot when they arrived for the graveside service.

“They’re here for you,” Kai had told her softly when she expressed her surprise, squeezing her hand.

And she knew he was probably right. Barb had hugged her tight and kissed both of her cheeks. And she’d told Kai to take good care of Jules. Of course, he’d promised, without any hesitation.

She rested her head on Kai’s shoulder as the limousine took them back to his place. They were quiet on the ride, Kai stroking her hair. She didn’t want to make small talk and he knew it. He knew everything. She never even had to say what she was thinking, it seemed.

“No Sebastian?” she asked as they entered the foyer. Usually the old man was there when they arrived.

“I gave him some time off.” Kai took her hand as he shut the door behind them. “I wanted to be alone with you.”

“So we can walk around the house naked?” she joked.

“Anything you want to do.” He pulled her into the circle of his arms, kissing the top of her head. “I’d be happy to just hold you like this forever.”

“Thank you.” She looked up at him. He looked so somber in his black suit and tie. She was in a little black dress that was more cocktail party than funeral, but she’d added a black shawl to offset it. “For everything. For being here.”

“Thank you for letting me.” He kissed her, just the brush of his lips, and smiled. “I need a drink. How about you?”

“Hell, yes.”

In the sitting room, Kai poured himself a shot of whiskey and drank it at the bar before pouring them both one. Jules settled into the chair she’d sat in the first night she’d been in his house.

“I talked to Sheriff Kline after the service,” Kai told her, handing her the shot and sitting in the chair beside her. “Still no suspects.”

“I can’t believe someone would do something like that.” Seeing all those marks on the headstones had infuriated her. “The funeral director said they thought it was probably just teens. Vandals. But why would they dig up bodies?”