In her dreams, he kissed her deep and full on the mouth, his tongue slipping between her lips as he tweaked her nipples and slid between her legs. His throbbing manhood pumped inside her wet core and her body clenched with release.
“Oh, Kian, yes,” she shouted out in the darkness.
Her eyes shot open, her body still throbbing. Sunlight streamed through the window. Her nipples pricked tight against her nightie, her core slick with desire. She let out a deep, exasperated sigh.
Now she was having sex dreams about her boss. This was beyond inappropriate. She bit her lip, thinking she should turn in her resignation. This job was so good, and she was already becoming attached to baby Ember. As much as she knew she should, she couldn’t tear herself away from the idea of her and Kian.
“You're becoming obsessed,” Everly told herself. “This is not healthy.”
She'd only known the man for one day. How could she possibly be having these feelings for him? It just wasn't natural.
She heard Ember cooing through the baby monitor and pulled the blankets off herself, still sweaty and flushed from the dream. She sloughed it off as she slid into her slippers, padding across the room to the nursery door.
She found Ember sitting in her crib, clapping her chubby hands. The baby's bright eyes and smile greeted her as the sun rose higher in the sky. She smiled at the child and lifted her out of the crib. Bringing her adorable weight and sweet smell into her arms, Everly greeted the baby.
“Good morning, sweet girl,” Everly said, filled with affection for the child.
Her life couldn't be better. She took Ember to the changing table and quickly changed her diaper and put her into a fresh new outfit. She took her to the window seat and shook an adorable little dragon rattle for her. She gazed out on the backyard as Ember grabbed the rattle and began to gum it with her cute little mouth.
“I think I'm falling for your daddy,” she whispered into the baby's head.
The sweet smell of the baby filled her nostrils, and she let out a satisfied sigh. Having Ember in her life filled the deep yearning inside her that she’d had since she lost her baby. She had felt so empty and alone up until the moment that Kian had introduced her to Ember and hired her as the nanny. She didn't want to jeopardize her position here. She couldn't let her silly sex dreams get in the way of paying back Stacy. She’d just have to take a cold shower before bed at night and try to ignore how sexy Kian was every moment of the day.
She took Ember downstairs and put her in her high chair before fixing her a bottle. Everly sat at the table in her pajamas, feeding Ember while she ate cereal.
After breakfast, Everly put Ember in the playpen to clean the kitchen. After she finished tidying up, she put Ember in a stroller and rolled her outside into the backyard. The fresh fragrance of spring filled her nose. They rolled down the paved path, along the manicured lawns and gardens. It was such a beautiful day with the bright blue sky overhead. It made her so grateful to Kian for giving her this opportunity.
She didn't want anything to jeopardize it. She had to get her hormones under control. They were just raging because she had a baby to take care of and she was surrounded by hunky male hotness. Her mind was playing tricks on her. It was nothing more than that.
Chapter 8
Kian and the crew walked out into the forest surrounding the mansion. The first rays of predawn glowed in the East.
“Activate mental link and stealth mode,” he told his crew.
They slid their fingers over their wrist devices and activated stealth mode. With the mental link active, they could hear each other and Bethi inside their minds.
“Directions to the vampire stronghold,” he told Bethi through the mental link.
“Directions commencing,” Bethi said.
“Everyone, shift into dragon form.”
They all shifted, their wrist devices keeping them cloaked in invisibility. Four dragons launched into the air. Kian’s animal mind took precedence. All he wanted was to go back to the mansion and claim the little human still sleeping in her room. But he still did not know if she was truly his mate.
“Kian and Everly sitting in a tree, k.i.s.s.i.n.g,” Dax teased.
“What the hell are you singing, Dax?” Kian snapped.
“It's a human children's song used for teasing people in love,” Aiden informed him.
“Well, stop it. We need to focus on the mission,” Kian chided.
“Take a left at the mountain peak, past the city,” Bethi chirped.
The four fire dragons glided left at the AI’s direction and continued over the city.
“The vampire stronghold is straight ahead,” Bethi said.
After about an hour of flying, they came to a massive mansion, illuminated by the first rays of dawn.
The dragons swooped down and landed on a manicured lawn. The mansion was huge and modern, with large windows that looked out onto sprawling grounds. Each dragon shifted into human form, maintaining stealth mode.
“There are vampire magic wards around the perimeter,” Cato said.
“Bethi, break these wards,” Kian said, holding his wrist device pointed at the mansion.
“Processing,” Bethi said.
“How long is this going to take?” Dax asked, sounding bored.
“Wards neutralized,” Bethi chirped.
“Forward,” Kian said.
They continued across the lawn, quickly scurrying toward the back of the house. They climbed up to a back balcony and found an unlocked door.
Inside, a vampire in a tailored suit sat at a large mahogany desk, smoking a cigar and twirling red liquid in a tumbler.
“I know we believed they were long gone, but I'm telling you, they're here,” said the one sitting behind the desk.
Another vampire sat across from him, smoking his own cigar and holding a wine glass of deep red liquid. His eyes were dark. His jet-black hair was slicked back into a ponytail at the nape of his neck. They both wore tailored black suits, but the one behind the desk wore a silver tie, and the one in front wore red. The one in the silver tie smiled, sharp teeth revealed as his lips parted.
“We have nothing to worry about. The dragons are gone. Extinct. At this point, they are nothing but a myth.”
“I know what the elders said. But I'm telling you, I'm picking up something. Something different. I feel it more every day.”
“You are just getting nervous in your old age, Victor,” said the vampire in the red tie. “Maybe you should take a hiatus. Go to sleep for a few decades. When you wake up you'll feel better.”
“This isn’t age anxiety, Marcus. It's something else.”
“You and I both know that you have never met a dragon. So, whatever you’re sensing could very well be a product of your imagination.”
“I retain the sensitivity of the ancients,” Victor said, standing from his chair. He was clearly exasperated. “I may have never encountered a pure blood dragon, but I have encountered many Dragon Souls in my time. The sensation is similar.”
“All I'm saying is that you shouldn't let whatever sense you're having spoil your fun. Especially not today. My sentries brought us the tastiest morsels in the city, and you spent all night brooding,” Marcus said. Victor swirled his glass. “Perhaps the influx of Dragon Soul blood slaves is making your senses tingle.”
“It could be,” said Victor, tossing back the red liquid. He slammed the glass on the desk.
“Let's go mingle before the party is over,” said Marcus.
They left the office and continued down the hall, leaving the door open. The four dragons followed silently, down a staircase to the first floor of the house. There were dozens of vampires dressed in luxurious human clothing. Music played and there was a tinkle of laughter and conversation. The two vampires from upstairs continued into a ballroom.
Beyond the double doors into the ballroom, Kian saw something that made his heart stop. The room was draped in blood red velvet with red carpets and red velvet settees.
“I think I’m going to vomit. This décor is atrocious. And what kind of maniac chose this music? I’ve heard better beats in an elevator,” Aiden said through their mental link. “Worst party ever.”
The gaudy decorating and bland music was not what shocked Kian. It was the dozens of naked humans lying about the place, and the numerous vampires feeding off their flesh. Fangs dipped into skin, sucking passionately at the flesh of their blood slaves.
Kian had lived a thousand years before the cataclysm forced dragons from their home. He had known these creatures in battle. He’d seen what they were capable of.
They had lost some of their strength, but their primary source of food, the living blood of other creatures, had not changed. They had taken to feeding off humans as they had off the beings in the Dragonian home systems so long ago.
Unfortunately for humans and human Dragon Souls, they were an easy target. Kian sent a jumbled chaotic message across the mental link, and he received the same garbled message back.
“I cannot watch this,” he said.
The other dragons followed him and slipped through the front door of the mansion without being noticed.
“How could this have happened?” he said as they hurried away from the gruesome sight.
“Humans have no defenses against vampires,” Cato said.
“How did they get here?” Kian asked. “When we left, they were still a power base in our home systems.”
“Bethi does not have access to those histories. But if I had to venture a guess, I’d surmise that, without dragons to keep them in check, they probably devoured the entire section of the galaxy, including their own world,” Cato said. “Bethi, run an analysis on the effect of unchecked vampire feeding on the Dragonian galactic neighborhood, one million years ago.”
“Commencing analysis,” Bethi said over their mental link as the dragons made it to the edge of the estate.
“It is a good theory, Cato,” Kian said. “We'll see what Bethi comes back with.”
“But how did they get here?” Dax asked.
“Probably the same way we did,” Aiden said.
The Houses of Dragonia had left their home system when their sun had died, leaving the quadrant without defenders. The vampires had already taken over most of the populated systems at that time. The Dragonians had fought them. But as the sun began to fade, a thousand years before, so had the dragons’ strength.
After the evacuation, the Dragonians searched the galaxy for a new home. They had found this one planet, now known as Earth. It was a nightmare to find their old enemy here.
“Preliminary analysis complete, results indicate that if the vampires were left unchecked, they would have devoured the inhabited solar systems in the Dragonian home quadrant within one thousand years.”
“So, if they had no one else to feed on, they would have evacuated themselves,” Cato deduced.
“They couldn’t have been here that long,” Kian reasoned. “They would have already destroyed the entire planet if they had.”
“But these vampires are much less powerful. And they have no technology,” Aiden said.
“We won't solve this mystery now,” Kian said. “It is time to go home.”
Kian instructed his crew to shift, and they launched into the air in their dragon forms, slowly gliding on the air streams back to their mansion. The horror of what he had witnessed in the vampires’ mansion haunted him all the way home. His thoughts drifted to Everly, and her delicate, vulnerable form.
The humans lacked defenses against vampires, but he knew that there was so much good in humans. Unlike the vampires, who were pure predatory evil, humans could show kindness and love. They were worthy of protection. With the help of the dragons, they could become even greater.
“Deactivating stealth mode,” Kian said upon landing and shifting in front of the mansion. The other dragons deactivated their stealth modes and became visible again.
“Cato, I want you to do an analysis of human history to see if we can glean when the vampires first became active on this planet. Then we may be able to understand the extent of their interference with human development.”
“On it,” Cato said.
“First, I need to know if Everly is my mate,” he thought to himself.
He didn't know for sure if she was his mate, but everything inside him told him that she was. He just had to wait for Bethi to tell him for sure. But Kian didn't think he needed the analysis. At this point, he believed it was nothing more a technicality. He had never been so sure of anything in his life. And he would do everything in his power to protect her.
Chapter 9
Everly was happier and more hopeful than she could remember feeling in a very long time. Taking care of Ember was enough to fill her with so much satisfaction that she could barely contain her smile as she jumped out of her chair at the sound of Ember’s cry. She hurried into the nursery and drew the baby up into her arms.
“Hello, sweetheart. Did you have a nice nap?” she said, rocking Ember gently. She quickly dried the baby's tears, changed her diaper, and gave her a binky. She rocked her in the rocking chair and looked out the window.
“Let's go get you some lunch. Maybe the guys are back by now.”
She carried Ember down the stairs and into the kitchen where she put her in her high chair and began to fix her bottle.
“Hello Everly,” Kian said from the doorway.
Everly turned and found him standing there in casual slacks and a black sweater. His blue eyes burned a hole in her chest and she felt a flutter of excitement as he looked at her. She flushed and bit her lip, not knowing how to respond.
“Hello,” she said at almost a whisper.
She felt like such an idiot. She couldn't help but respond to him. He was so gorgeous, so tall and good and strong. Such an excellent father. The kind of man a girl could spend the rest of her life with. She could happily drown in the pools of his bright blue eyes. He was the man of her dreams, quite literally. How was she ever going to put him out of her mind?
“Did your mission go well?” she asked, trying not to give away her burning attraction.
“As well as could be expected. We received some disturbing information. But at least we now know,” he said, moving towards the refrigerator.
Everly picked up Ember and held her close as she fed her the bottle.
“Let me make you some lunch,” he said with a smile.
“I can't ask you to do that,” she said. “I should be cooking for you. I am your employee.”
“Nonsense. Besides, I find cooking to be relaxing,” he said with an air of authority.
She bit her lip and remained silent. He obviously wanted to cook for her. So, who was she to object? He began making her a grilled cheese sandwich with four types of gourmet cheese.
Ember finished her bottle so Everly put her in her high chair and went to find some baby food from the cabinet. She grabbed a rubber spoon from the drawer and began to feed Ember a jar of pureed squash.
By the time Ember was finished, the other men were filing into the kitchen. Cato had the newspaper and grabbed a bottle of water before silently sitting at the other end of the table. He gave her a muffled greeting and pulled the paper up over his face.
Aiden entered the room, looking as if he’d stepped off the cover of The Rolling Stone. He sat near the window, sipping coffee, listening to his iPod with headphones.
“That's a cool outfit,” Everly said to him.
He wore a black leather jacket, dark, tight jeans and a Black Sabbath t-shirt.
“Thanks,” he said, pulling his earbud out of his ear.
“You have a really cool look,” Everly said.
“Clothing should be a representation of who you are on the inside. I could help you with yours,” he said.
“Oh,” she said. “Is it that obvious? I haven’t been shopping for myself in…” She bit her lip, trying to remember.
“A little bit,” he said. “Your look is kind of bl
ah.”
Kian put heaping plates of grilled cheese sandwiches on fresh French bread on the table. He cleared his throat angrily at Aiden.
“I don't mean to offend you. But it's obvious that you haven’t thought about how to make your inner self shine through.”
“I know. I haven’t had a lot of time or money for that. But things are turning up. Now that I have this job. I'll be able to get back in touch with myself.”
“Why don't I take you shopping,” Aiden suggested.
“Really?” she asked hopefully.
“We can both take her shopping,” Kian growled.
“That would be amazing,” Everly said, not sure what to say.
“It's settled then. We'll go shopping after lunch,” Kian said.
“Okay.”
Dax walked into the room. Blurry eyed, scratching his behind, and wearing nothing but his boxer shorts. Everly's mouth dropped at the sheer volume of manliness approaching, and she gasped.
“Dax, what are you doing?” Kian demanded.
“I smelled food,” he said.
“Why aren’t you dressed?” Kian asked.
Dax looked down at himself and shrugged.
“I am dressed.”
“You can't walk around the house in your underwear,” Kian said, folding his arms over his chest.
“I dress like this all of the time.”
“We have a lady in the house now,” Kian said. “It’s socially inappropriate.”
“Oh, right. Sorry, Everly. I didn't mean to offend you,” he said, running his hand over his chiseled chest.
Everly's heart pounded, partially from the sight of Dax in his underwear — he looked like a Greek God chiseled out of marble, crossed with a bed-headed surfer — but what really had her heart going crazy was the look in Kian's eyes. It was an unmistakable expression of jealousy and protectiveness.
Kian rushed to stand between her and Dax to shield her from the sight of him. Why would he do that? Was he jealous? Did he want her to have eyes for only him? She pondered it for a moment, enjoying the idea that he would want to keep her for himself. But how could that be? How could a man like Kian be interested in her? She was just a frumpy, lonely, divorced nanny. He shouldn't be interested in her by any reasonable expectation.