Chapter 13

Chapter Thirteen

CALVIN

For a second, I was really excited to tell my friends about what I'd learned. My D&D group, especially, would freak out, knowing dragons were real. But Kiara's warning made sense. Groups of humans were dangerous to anyone who didn't fit in. Even if I trusted my friends one hundred percent, I couldn't control them keeping that kind of thing to themselves. And if it got out, it'd be catastrophic.

"Wait. I've heard that word before. Didn't your sister call me your mate?"

Annoyance flashed across her face. We'd never turned the light on, so the only lighting in the room was from the sliver of the street light through the crack in the curtains. It was barely enough for me to see her expression, but I saw the hint of pink on her cheeks before she sat back out of the light.

"It didn't mean anything. She was making an assumption."

I'd believe that if she didn't look so embarrassed about it. I leaned closer, my voice going husky.

"But she was on board to help me. She must've heard something to make her think we were good together. Right?"

She crossed her arms over her chest defiantly, but she didn't argue. I took that as a win and pushed a little more.

"Felt good together earlier in the hotel room. I was seriously pissed we got interrupted."

A low growl filled the room, but it didn't sound threatening. More like a purr. A huge grin spread across my face.

"Seems like someone else agrees with me, at least."

"Shut up. She doesn't get an opinion. She's easily swayed by a pretty face," Kiara snapped.

That only made me grin harder. "You think I'm pretty then?"

She made an irritated noise, and for a minute, she refused to answer. I thought I'd pushed my luck a little too much, but when she muttered fuck it under her breath, my stomach clenched eagerly. Like before in the hotel, she grabbed my shirt, yanking me closer so she could slam her lips against mine. I seriously loved that. Kiara was the take charge type of woman and she didn't make me doubt for even a second that she was into what was happening. Our tongues battled for control and I was a-okay with not winning. She aggressed, and somehow, I ended up out of my chair and on my back on the mattress next to us, with her on top of me. If this was the result of running from psychopaths, it was totally worth it.

Just because I wasn't in charge didn't mean I was passive. I wasn't going to miss an opportunity to touch such a gorgeous woman. I ran my hands up her thighs to her ass, gripping the rounded flesh. She had a hell of an ass. You'd think with a lioness, she'd be more lithe, but she was curvy in all the right places. I might suggest she dress up like tomb raider for a little role play because she'd pull it off effortlessly.

She nipped my bottom lip, forcing a groan out of me, and my hips lifted automatically. Her easy control over me made her chuckle, and I basked in the sound, ignoring the way I was throbbing down south. I was going to savor every second of this. I wasn't going to rush it. I made jokes about the mate thing, and I still didn't entirely know what it meant, but if I went by fantasy novel standards, it would be too good to be true to imagine myself as her mate. There was no way a nerd like me could land a woman like her for more than a night or two.

Unless…

Maybe if I showed her some moves, I might be able to convince her to give me a shot. I wasn't inexperienced, and I knew some tricks that might keep her coming back for more.

I was about to roll us so I could get her clothes off when the ground shook like an earthquake. The kiss broke as we both looked warily toward the window. Kiara slipped off the bed without a word, prowling to the window to peek out. Her sigh of relief dialed the adrenaline down a little and I sat up as she opened the door and called out.

"Aiden. Here."

Kiara turned on the light, blinding me for a second as the guy came into the room. When I could finally see right, my mouth fell open.

"Uh, why is he naked? Why are you naked?" I looked between the two of them for an answer. Kiara smirked.

"Can't keep our clothes through a shift. The force of it shreds them to bits. Besides, can you imagine an animal wearing clothes for a different sized human? A dragon in a suit?" She jerked a thumb at her friend, who just raised an eyebrow at her. "Shifters don't get fussy over nudity like humans do. It's just the way things are."

Okay, well, that puts things into perspective. The image of a dragon in a suit was kind of funny, but I put that aside, listening as they made plans.

"No way. I'm not getting on your back," she protested.

Aiden scoffed. "Of course you aren't. Only my mate gets that privilege. I'm going to carry you."

I was on my feet in a second, bouncing on my toes with excitement. "Hold on. Back up. Carry us? Like, we'll get to fly with a dragon?" I shot Kiara an incredulous look. "Why the hell would you say no to that?"

She scowled, crossing her arms like she always did when she didn't want to admit something. She knew I'd never let it go, though, and finally admitted, "I don't like heights."

"Aww… I'll protect you, gorgeous. Besides, if he drops us, we won't live to remember it anyway."

"Not helpful," the man growled. "I've never dropped anyone before, and I carried Link and Rhea while he was bleeding out. We don't have time to argue this. I didn't feel him in the area, but there's no telling how much time we have before he catches up. We need to get moving if you want your mate to stay safe."

The shit-eating grin on my face made her grumble, both because of the idea of flying with a dragon and because he called me her mate. Equally awesome in my books. I'd get her to admit it eventually. For now, I was going to check off a bucket list item I never thought was possible.

"Let's do this!"

Kiara

For someone who only found out about shifters and dragons an hour earlier, Cal was taking the news really well. Once he got past the shock, he was curious and showed no signs of being afraid of me. He was afraid of Jasper's goons, but that was self preservation. Hopefully, he'd have the same happy curiosity when meeting the Blackridge crew. They weren't quiet about their animals when they were on their land, and it wasn't an odd occasion for a bear or a wolf to wander through the trailer park at all hours of the day.

Since I didn't have any other plan to offer, I reluctantly followed Aiden and Cal outside to the parking lot. It was empty, and there was an empty lot right next to the motel that Aiden had used as a landing point that was mostly out of the way of street lights. He made us wait a good twenty feet away, since the power of calling his dragon could toss anyone close enough on their ass. Cal looked awed and practically giddy when the red dragon turned to look at us. Meanwhile, I was holding back a whimper. I hated flying on principle. Doing it without walls around me was messed up.

With a death grip on Aiden's claw, I let him hoist me off my feet and against his chest. Cal was close enough to touch, and he reached out, offering me his hand for support.

"Hold on, you idiot!" I yelled, smacking his hand away. He just laughed, letting out a whoop as we launched into the air. Of course, the nerdy guy would find this exhilarating.

Rhea told me what it was like to fly with Aiden. She hadn't even gone that far, just close enough to the city to meet an ambulance to get Link the help he needed. We had two hours of this at a minimum, and I was shaky within ten minutes. We were low enough that we had oxygen, but high enough where the air was freezing. Even Cal looked uncomfortable after a while. I squeezed my eyes shut, counting down the seconds until it was over, and didn't notice Aiden moving until Cal slid in behind me in Aiden's left claw.

"What are you doing?" I shouted over the wind.

"Keeping you warm. It's fucking freezing up here," he called back. He wrapped himself around me while I still had a death grip on Aiden. He was fearless, and after a minute, him holding me helped. We kept each other warm on the nearly three-hour flight, and Aiden helped by keeping us close to his chest.

I couldn't see well enough to watch Aiden's back, but we weren't attacked on the flight, and we landed in front of the compound without issue. Aiden set us down gently before shifting back, Andrew already waiting for him with some clothes.

My knees were jello, and I needed Cal's support to stay upright for a few minutes while I got my equilibrium back. This wasn't how I saw my return to this place going. I honestly never expected to come back. When I saw Talia standing just inside the door, the familiar guilt cropped up again and I stared back uneasily.

"Is that your sister?" Cal asked quietly.

I nodded. I told him about what happened during that stupid information exchange. He knew I ran away. I didn't know how to handle the fact that she suffered because of me. I still didn't. I didn't even know what to say.

"Come on. You're only making her sad by avoiding her. She obviously cares about you. Go hug her."

He nudged me forward, and my feet started moving as I approached Talia warily.

"Hey."

"Hi," she whispered. "I'm glad you're back."

I didn't want to admit I wasn't here for long. I needed to find Jasper and get back to work. I tried working out here before. We were too far in the boonies for me to have many decent jobs. I couldn't stay. But I didn't want to upset her either. So I kept things simple.

"Me too."