Chapter 22

Chapter Twenty-Two

KIARA

Cal was up to something. All night he was looking at me with this weird expression on his face. I wasn't sure what prompted it, but since he was hanging out with Liv, I knew it couldn't be good. She loved to stir shit up when she could. Banter was her love language. And since she got pregnant, she's been looking to cause trouble. It irritated me that she latched onto Cal. He was in enough trouble as it was. First a dragon, now a witch. He pissed people off left and right. I had to wonder how he survived this long in the first place.

After dinner and waiting long enough for Aiden to shift back and calm down, we headed back to the compound. Jackson made the suggestion to give Runa some fencing or something around her property so no one would accidentally trip her wards. Christian, who was usually the go between for Aiden and Runa, said he'd talk to her about it the next time she visited, but given how bad the argument was earlier, he figured it'd be a while. For now, we had to keep the cubs away from that side of the forest. And the humans too.

Everyone dispersed once we got back. There was still a low level tension in the air and it was like people knew now wasn't the time to socialize. They went to their apartments and settled in for the night, including me and Cal. He followed me into the shower without a word, stealing the soap from me and massaging it into my hair like he'd been doing it for years. These moments made it harder to keep myself away from Cal. He wasn't pushing, wasn't trying to get something from me. He was taking care of me without smothering me.

"I'm going back home soon. Jasper's in the wind and I'm a better hunter than my coworkers. I want to see if I can find him before he disappears completely."

I expected an argument, but he just hummed, grabbing the conditioner while I rinsed out the soap. "When are we leaving?"

I sighed. "We're not. You can't go. Not until I know for sure it's safe for you to go back. I'm sorry, Cal, but–"

He shook his head, his smile a little forced. "It's okay. I get it. It's not like I've got a job or something waiting for me. It just sucks… I wish I could do something to help."

Tossing my arms around his neck, I planted a quick kiss on his lips. "If you were a hacker, maybe you could, but you don't strike me as that kind of guy."

He frowned, his lips pressed together as he thought about my statement. "No, I'm not. But a friend of mine is. Robbie is the only one of us who has a decent job. He's IT, but he does have experience in ethical hacking. If you don't mind me getting him involved, I can ask him to do some research. At least cross a few things off the list?"

I wasn't in love with the idea of getting more humans involved. I usually got my information to track my marks through legal sources. The police didn't like working with us, but they did it if it meant getting a dangerous criminal off the streets. But there were no hackers on the police force in town. It was kind of a gray area where hacking was concerned. If it were any other criminal, I would immediately say no. Only the fact that Jasper was a possibly unstable dragon tipped the scales for me.

"Sure. Not right away. I don't want humans involved unless I'm out there to get him to safety if I need to. But once I get down there, you can ask someone around here to borrow a phone to call him."

His expression flattened. "Still not going to give me a phone? They can't track one of those crappy ones you pay minutes for, you know."

"You said they found us by using your Netflix account. I don't trust you not to log into one of your games or something and tip them off to where you are while I'm too far away to protect you. No phones. You want to call your friend, you do it through Christian or Andrew. Not Aiden. He's got enough on his plate and I don't want you accidentally pissing off another dragon. Leave him alone. Got me?"

He rolled his eyes, but he didn't argue, his attention going back to taking care of my hair.

I never thought I'd be into a guy I could so easily knock around. He was at least two inches shorter than me. Yes, I was taller than average, but I wasn't a giant. I had more muscle than he did, plus shifter strength. I could break him like a twig if I wanted to. I figured that I'd end up with someone I couldn't easily push around. But there was a level of comfort being with Cal. I never had to worry about him trying to overpower me or force me to do something. I could just be with him without any background noise, like my brain offering up escape routes if I needed them.

His hands started exploring as he ran a soapy cloth over my skin. He was insatiable. I hadn't slept alone since we got here because we ended up wrapped around each other every damn night. Tonight was looking to be no different. He slipped the cloth between my legs, stroking and teasing me.

When I nipped at his lip, he shuddered, his eyes hooded like he was drugged out. "Liv said a bite will turn your mate."

I rolled my eyes. So that's what had him staring at me all night. "Liv talks too much. I'm not turning you. Lions are dickbags and you're perfect the way you are."

A whole host of emotions passed over his face, from disappointment to confusion, before settling on one of his goofy smiles.

"You think I'm perfect?"

Spinning us around so he was under the spray, I took my turn running the soap in his hair. I wasn't as nice about it, I was uncomfortable with the cutesy talk and punishing him, but he only laughed, pulling me in for a kiss. I was getting frustrated standing around in here when we could be doing something more interesting. I stole the cloth from him, rubbing it over his skin hastily until I reached his cock. His eyes slipped shut and a low groan filled the bathroom, his hips thrusting in response.

If we had condoms in the bathroom, I might be willing to attack him in here. But they were on the nightstand and I wasn't going to risk going without. It was hard for shifters to get pregnant, but not impossible. Blackridge Haven was an example of that, with their current baby boom. That wasn't going to happen for me, and no amount of great sex was going to make me take that chance. I wasn't mommy material.

"Bed. Now."

"Anything my goddess wants," he replied almost dreamily, a goofy grin on his face. I rolled my eyes. He hadn't let go of the goddess thing and I didn't think he would without good reason. I kind of liked the worship, so I never asked him to stop.

We barely dried off before we were in bed and making out like teenagers. I could feel his erection grinding against my hip, I figured he'd want to get on with the action, but he surprised me when he pulled away.

"Sit on my face."

My eyebrows shot up, and I fought back a grin. "Seriously?"

"Fuck yes."

There wasn't a hint of apprehension or worry that I'd smother him. Knowing him, he'd make some stupid comment on how it would be the best way to die. Instead of arguing with him and risking him saying something irritating, I crawled up the bed, holding onto the headboard with my sex hovering over his face.

"Cal–"

His hands gripped my hips, and he tugged hard, throwing me off balance enough to give him what he wanted. I gasped as he went after all the sweet spots he'd found over the past week, my hips moving automatically. He groaned in response to me riding his face, one hand releasing my hip so he could stroke his cock at the same time. Fuck, that was hot. I watched over my shoulder as he touched himself, moaning when he sucked hard on my clit. Cal's goal always seemed to be to blow my mind, and he wasn't happy with just light moaning. He doubled down, fucking me with his tongue, the motion of his hand matching the rhythm of my hips.

It was when his fingers joined in that I tipped over the edge. Every damn time he went after my g spot with his fingers, I came embarrassingly hard, soaking him in my release. He always looked so damn smug about it, and it irritated me and turned me on in equal measure.

To get a little payback, I slipped around, pulling off a flawless sixty nine before he could blink. I never expected him to panic when I swallowed him down my throat.

"Ah! Wait– Oh fuck! Kee– C-Close! Fuck!"

I released him, grinning over my shoulder at him. He shook his head helplessly, his fingers digging into my hips.

"Maybe you shouldn't be so smug if you didn't want me to punish you."

He let out a blissful sigh, his fingers digging into my hips. "God, I freaking love your payback. Okay. I'm good. Whoever makes the other come the most wins a prize. I want a damn phone."

Oh, hell no. I wasn't going to let him win that one. I stalled a little when he started licking me again, but I wasn't going to let him distract me. He wasn't getting a freaking phone. I didn't trust him not to call one of his friends out of boredom.

Swallowing him down, I sucked hard enough to make him shout. He ripped his mouth away from my pussy, arching his back in surprise.

"Ohshitohfuck– Kiara!"

Shouldn't have challenged me, pretty boy. I was relentless, no teasing, and he didn't last long. His head thrashed side to side in his attempt to hold out, but suckling on the head did him in, and he came with a shout.

"Holy fuck!"

Snickering, I rolled off him and rested on my elbows, giving him my own smug smile. When he looked in my direction, his cock twitched like it wanted to rally for another round, and my grin only grew.

"You look like the Cheshire cat right now, and I'm suddenly afraid I'm gonna die from dehydration tonight," he quipped, still trying to catch his breath.

With a low purr, I climbed back on top of him, nipping his chin. "You're a smart man. You might want to hold on to something. I'm not stopping until you beg for mercy."