Max came awake to a strange mechanical humming noise. Like a vaporizer or something. It blended in with the faint sound of zydeco and laughter. Cars passing by on the street outside.
Of a crowded bar and metal music from next door …
“Don’t move!”
Blinking open his eyes, he found Sera sitting on the floor by his side, stroking his snout. But the most shocking part was the fact that his dragon’s head was cradled in her lap.
And her breasts were pressed against his cheek.
Um, yeah …
He had no desire whatsoever to move from this position. Especially since she held his head at an angle that allowed him to see straight down her shirt, and the fact that she didn’t have on a bra. Something that made his mouth water and his heart race.
In spite of the pain, he went rock hard. Thankfully, he was lying on his stomach so that the only one who knew about this uncomfortable situation was him. And the floor beneath him, which probably wasn’t any happier about it than he was.
“Am I dead?”
She frowned at him. “Why do you ask that?”
“This doesn’t feel real. My room … You.” Dead or dreaming seemed the two most logic conclusions, and if it was a dream, he’d like to think he’d already be naked with her.
“It’s real. As is the accidental stabbing I gave you when we were caught.”
Damn, that hadn’t been a dream. No wonder his side hurt so much. At least now he knew his memory was whole.
“You sure it was an accident?”
“Ah, now who’s being mean?”
“Still you.”
She snorted at him. “Yeah well, that’s my story and I’m sticking to it.”
If he wasn’t in so much pain, he might have joined her laughter, but he still wasn’t convinced she hadn’t done it intentionally.
Is he awake?
Max started at the sound of Illarion’s voice in his head. Before he could move, his brother came forward to stand in his field of vision. Alongside Falcyn, who knelt beside Sera.
Yeah, he was back to fearing death again, especially with Falcyn here to check in on him. Hell must have frozen over and a few other catastrophes for that to happen.
Falcyn picked up his ear and coldly let it flop back over his eyes. “You took a nasty wound and spill. If not for your swan, you’d have never survived.”
Sera visibly cringed. “If not for me, he wouldn’t have been injured.”
“Well…” Falcyn wrinkled his nose. “Win some. Lose some. Besides, we’ve all wanted to stab him at times. You’re just lucky you got to do it first.”
Max laughed, then groaned. Leave it to his brother, the asshole. Ignoring Falcyn, he looked back at Sera. “So what happened, anyway? How did we get out of there?”
“They answered your Bane-Cry. It just took them a little while to break through the shields that were holding them out and preventing them from helping.”
“And your sisters?”
She lifted her chin as a cold ruthlessness darkened her eyes. “My sisters died beside my mother when I was a girl. The Amazon tribe I was tied to is still serving the gallu, for who knows what purposes. That’s their choice.”
“We routed the gallu out of Olympus,” Falcyn said, sitting back on his haunches. “But it was a bad day for Zeus and crew. They’re not happy with the damage that was wrought.”
Sin least of all, since his wife insisted that Artemis stay with them until things settle down. And Apollo is captured again since he is now working with the gallu against his father and the rest of his former pantheon.
Max sucked his breath in sharply at that. Sin and Artemis had a bad history together. No doubt Sin was extremely unhappy to have his mother-in-law camping out in his casino since he could barely tolerate Artemis’s presence. Even though he had plenty of room, he wouldn’t welcome her there.
Falcyn brought his attention back to him. “I have Hadyn’s Tablet. We decided it would be safer to break it apart from what you carry. And keep them in separate locations.”
“Thank you.”
Falcyn inclined his head to him. “Still doesn’t mean I like you, though.”
“Hate you, too, brother.”
There was a timid knock on the door before it was pushed open to show Edena and Hadyn entering. They came in with food and drink that they set down on the floor, beside their mother.
“We’ll give you space,” Falcyn said before he led Illarion and Blaise from the room.
Alone with his mate and children, Max wasn’t sure what to say. It was extremely surreal to have them here in his solitary loft. Or rather their loft. As a family, they’d be sharing it from now on. Yeah, that really did a number on his head.
Edena sat down next to her mother. “How do you feel?”
“Good.”
She smiled. “Glad to hear it.” Even so, there was a hesitancy that blemished her smile and feigned cheerful words.
Max manifested a blanket, then turned himself human. “Better?”
She blushed profusely. “Um … it doesn’t matter to me. I’m used to Hadyn as a dragon.”
“Deenie’s the one who tends to me whenever I’m sick or … stuck. Did you ever get trapped in one form or the other and not be able to change? It really sucks.”
Max grinned as he remembered those days, and he welcomed his son’s friendliness. Unlike his sister, Hadyn had no reservation in his form, tone, or manner. “It’s been a while, but yeah. It sucks.”
Hadyn came forward more slowly. “We know you need to rest some more. We just wanted to make sure you were all right. You haven’t moved in three whole days. All of us have been scared about that.”
Max choked at his revelation. “Three days? Are you serious?”
Edena nodded. “The demons are so unhappy. Zakar, Thorn, and Fang have put up seals and mirrors all over Peltier House and Sanctuary so that they can’t get in again. So far, it’s working.”
“What about the Amazons?”
“They tried,” Hadyn answered. “Mom and Samia, along with the Peltier females and a Dark-Huntress named Chi kicked their butts so hard that I doubt they’ll be back for a while.”
“Good.”
Edena leaned forward to kiss his cheek. “We’ll be back later to bother you. Get some more rest.” She got up to leave.
Hadyn moved forward. “I’m really glad Mom didn’t kill you.” And with that, the twins were gone.
Max wasn’t sure what to make of his kids. They were a bit odd, but he loved them. And speaking of things that made him uncomfortable …
He gently pushed the blanket back and shifted.
Sera immediately gasped. “What are you doing?”
“It’s been three days. I need to go to the bathroom.”
Sera’s face exploded with color. “Oh. Sorry.” She let go of his arm so that he could stand up. “You need me to help?”
Her offer charmed him. But … “There are some things I prefer to do alone. This is one of them.”
“Okay.”
Seraphina leaned back on her arms while Max went to attend his needs. It’d been a strange few days while they’d acclimated to their new lives. This world was so different than the one they’d known.
Luckily, Hadyn and Edena seemed to be adjusting easier than she was. Of course it helped that the Peltiers had children close to their age who’d taken them under their bear claws and were teaching them idioms and culture.
Max’s brothers were still quite suspicious of her. As were Fang and the others.
There was nothing she could do about that. So she did her best to ignore it and not let it bother her.
When Max returned a short time later, he had a black towel wrapped around his lean hips and his long blond hair and feathers were wet.
“You showered?”
Nodding, he headed back to his pallet on the floor.
He’d also shaved. The fresh, clean scent of soap and dragonswain set her head reeling. But the sight of his stitches across his abdomen, where Carson had tended him, reminded her that he was in no condition for what her hormones wanted.
Too bad, that.
As he lay down, she was overwhelmed by the sheer size of him in his human body. While he wasn’t as large like this as he was as a dragon, he was still a good-sized creature. Still ferocious and delicious.
“You keep looking at me like that and you’re going to have to fulfill that silent promise in your eyes.”
She scowled. “What promise?”
“To climb on top of me and ride me like a giddy kid on the mechanical horse outside of Piggly Wiggly with a sack full of quarters.”
Her jaw dropped. “I’m not completely sure what that analogy means, but—”
He interrupted her words with a scorching kiss that left her breathless and dizzy. “I think you know exactly what I mean.” And to prove his point, he pressed her hand against the bulge under his towel.
“I don’t want to hurt you.”
Laughing, he nipped at her lips and then her chin. “You’re worth the pain.”
“Maxis!”
“It’s true.” He slid his hand under her shirt to cup her breast and tease her hardened nipple with his thumb. “Make love to me, Sera. I’ve lived too long away from you.”
“And I, you.” She reached down between them to remove his towel. Her breath caught as she stared at his unadorned beauty. He was unbelievably handsome and fierce.
Best of all, he was hers.
And he watched her with a hunger that was its own form of foreplay. One that made her want to please and tease him until he was as giddy as the child he’d described with the sack full of quarters.
Rising to her feet, she slowly stripped for him like she used to, delighting in the murmurs of pleasure that escaped his lips as he watched her peeling her clothes off. When she was finally naked, he reached for her and pulled her close enough that he could lave her breast while his hands gently stroked and caressed her body.
Her heart pounded as she savored his touch and did her own exploration of his long, hard, muscled flesh. She’d always loved spreading her hands over the massive planes of his back. Feeling the texture of it and the flexing of his muscles as he moved.
“You are exquisite,” she breathed.
“And you are beautiful.” He tongued her ear until chills sprang all over her arms. Laughing, he slowly slid his fingers up her thigh, to the center of her body where she craved his touch most. She groaned out loud at how good his touch felt while he gently played and teased until she was so hot and breathless that she was on the verge of coming.
But this wasn’t how she wanted it to end. And definitely not this soon. Pushing him back, she straddled him and gently impaled herself on his body.
Gasping, Max gripped her hips and thrust against her, driving himself in even deeper.
Afraid he’d hurt himself, she adjusted her weight until he was forced to surrender all control over to her.
The smile on his face made her heart beat faster. “I see what you’re doing. I’m all yours, my lady dragon. Have your wicked way with me until your heart’s content.”
She buried her hands in his damp hair and slowly rode him until they came in unison. Only then did she slide off him and lay by his side as she listened to his ragged breathing.
Closing his eyes, Max held her as he savored the familiar New Orleans and Sanctuary sounds blending with her precious breaths.
So familiar and so alien. Nothing would ever be the same again.
“Where do we go from here, Sera?”
“What do you mean?”
He was so afraid of her answer, but he’d never been a coward and he had to know. “What are your plans for our future?”
Seraphina froze at his emotionless tone. “Do you want me to leave?”
“Gods no. I just … I know how you feel about this time period. About…”—he barely bit back the word “me”—“dragons. So I was curious where you saw this going.”
“What do you want?”
“You.”
“And?”
He tilted his head to look at her. “I’ve always been a dragon of simple means. You know that. But we’ve stirred a hornets’ nest with everything that’s happened since your arrival. One I’m not sure we can walk away from. The gallu will be able to follow us. And it’s not just us we have to think about. I am still the Dragonbane.”
Seraphina swallowed hard at something they couldn’t escape. That would be with them forever. “Why did you kill him, Max?”
“Does it matter?”
“No. I love you, regardless. But I would like to hear your side of it.”
With her head tucked beneath his chin, he toyed with her hair. “Would you believe my truth should I give it?”
“I have learned to trust you. Whatever you say, I will believe.”
Still, he hesitated before he answered. “It was an accident. He wasn’t the one who was supposed to die. Rather it was his brother.”
Gaping, she rose up to stare down at him. “And that makes it all better?”
“Had you met his brother, yes. He was an asshole.”
“Max!”
Before he could respond, another knock sounded on his door. By the scent, he knew it was Alain Peltier. The eldest of the bears. “Yes?”
Alain didn’t open the door, rather he spoke through it. “I hate to disturb you, dragon. But we have a bad situation. Savitar has called the Omegrion and you’ve been summoned. By law, we have to take you in. However, we’ve taken a vote and we’re standing in solidarity by your side.”
“No!” Sera shook her head. “You can’t go. I won’t allow you to face them. I don’t care what Savitar says or how many stand with you. This is suicide!”
Max didn’t respond to her upset outburst. “How long do I have?”
“We need to leave immediately.”