Rising Dragons Omnibus (9 page)

Breath of Destiny: Chapter 6

E
rika roused herself from a lazy nap to find Geva seated near the bed, naked and watching her with a sleepy smile. The new haircut threw her. She was used to his insanely red hair that grazed his shoulders. Now he actually looked kind of respectable, not the wild dragon man she’d fallen for.

She still loved the look. Especially when he greeted her naked like this.

“It glows even when you sleep.” He glanced at her lower abdomen.

Her mark tingled in response to his appraisal. Heat rose to her cheeks and she pulled the sheet up to her navel. “That must make you very happy.”

“Insanely.” He grinned. “Aren’t you?”

She sighed. “It’s complicated. I don’t deny the desire is there, and obviously it’s very real if my mark is telling the truth. But it’s been six months since we got back. I’m itching for a new expedition. A baby would complicate my work.”

“More than I’ve complicated it?”

“Maybe. At least I can take you with me. That is, if you can go.” There were all kinds of arguments to the contrary. She’d known plenty of archaeologists who had raised kids in the field. Even given birth in the field. She could be hardcore like that. But didn’t she owe it to her kid to be more responsible?

“We do have a new expedition—the one to find my sister.” Geva gave her an expectant look. She wasn’t completely oblivious to his need to please her. She adored it, if she were being honest. The way he’d couched this particular plea made her love him more, but it was still too complicated.

“Which we can’t begin until we get that artifact assembled. Will it just tell us where she is, do you think?”

“Our legends say once it’s assembled it must be taken to the Mother’s birth place and affixed to her shrine. Then She will speak to us, bestowing the wisdom we seek.” He propped his elbows on his knees, ready to give her any other incentive she needed. She felt suddenly self-conscious that a man like
him
was looking to her for help and validation.

“Your mother or
the
Mother?”

“The Mother.”

Erika’s gears began to turn. A true expedition, provided the Council approved. Nothing else mattered to her in moments when she had a clear objective.

“Where’s this shrine?”

“Only the Council knows the precise location, but there’s sufficient available lore for us to find it without their help.”

Erika snorted. Of course only they knew. She enjoyed how Geva seemed to grow more excited at her own enthusiasm.

“Well, first things first. Let me call Corey back and find out if he has any news. It’s already been a week.” She snatched her phone from the bedside table.

Her friend answered on the third ring with a grumbly, “Monaghan.”

“Hey, Cor. What happened to your secretary?”

She heard a curse on the other end of the call. “Jesus, Erika. I was planning on calling you when I woke up. You’re probably the most impatient woman I know. I have no idea how that man lives with you.”

Erika glanced at Geva who was laughing quietly. She’d forgotten how keen his hearing was. She glared at him and he mouthed “sorry” to her. “Where are you, Cor?”

A deep sigh met her ear through her phone. “I’m not at the office… It is only 4 AM on the East Coast, you know? It’s not like I was sleeping anyway. My calls are usually forwarded directly to my cell when I’m offsite.”

“Sorry I woke you.”

“Fuck you, you aren’t sorry for anything. I’ll just get right to it anyway. I have good news and bad news. Mostly bad news.”

Erika tensed. Corey didn’t sound optimistic and considering his ‘yes man’ attitude, his tone worried her. “What is it?”

“The Council approved our request.”

“That’s incredible! When should we bring you our piece of the artifact?”

“Not so fast… We’re missing a fragment. We thought the Council had the sixth, but it turns out they don’t. They lost it centuries ago.”

Centuries ago?
Her blood went cold at the implications, but her brain immediately kicked in to compensate. ‘Centuries ago’ was her favorite phrase. It normally made her a little wet to hear, but this time the situation was more complicated. She averted her eyes from Geva’s. An expedition was what that meant, but she knew she shouldn’t be happy about a delay in finding Geva’s sister. Either way, she needed to make sure Geva heard from someone else’s mouth what they needed to do, no matter how sharp his hearing was.

“I’m putting you on speaker. Say that again.” She tapped the screen of her phone and set it down on the bedside table.

“I said, the goddamn
Council
has
lost
the sixth piece of the fucking artifact. Racha’s gone to meet with her brother to try to figure out what to do about it. And we have other problems, too.”

“Do they affect us finding the damn thing?” Geva asked.

Erika raised an eyebrow at his outburst. He was actually starting to sound a little like her.

“Not exactly, but they may affect how the Court proceeds. I believe you want the Verdanith for the reason you asked for it, but I know you, Erika. I know there’s another reason.”

She started to object but he cut her off.

“Don’t tell me. It’s none of my business. If you’re keeping it on the down low, I believe you have a good reason so it’s best if I
not
know considering who I live with. I’d be obligated to tell her, and she’d be required to tell the Council. I’m having a tricky enough time handling damage control for the other members of the Court. And for our own issues.”

Erika sat back against her pillows and met Geva’s gaze with raised eyebrows. This oughta be interesting.

“Care to share?” she asked her phone.

“No time right now. But whatever it is you guys are dealing with, trust me you’re not alone. We have to choose our battles with the Council, but if there’s anything you can do to work on locating the lost fragment, please try. I’ll send you what details I can on its last known location. This is your realm of expertise at least, so we’re counting on you. Maybe Dimitri can help, too.”

“Of course. I’ll do whatever I can.”

“Good,” he said. “And Erika?”

“Yeah?”

“I think we need to be prepared for the worst if Racha and Kris can’t get the Council to see reason.”

“I thought you said they approved?”

“It’s about more than the artifact. It’s about their entire way of life. Just prepare yourselves.”

Erika turned to look at Geva. Her red lover had a look of intense interest on his face.

“Do you know what the fuck Corey’s talking about?”

He smiled at her. “My people’s outmoded conventions are a way of the past, my love.”

Erika laughed. “Is that your way of telling me times are changing?”

“I love how concise you can be.”

“You haven’t seen me give a lecture yet. My students hate me.”

“Teach me, sweet Erika. I will listen.”

Rising Dragons

Book 2

Breath of Memory

Ophelia Bell

Breath of Memory: Chapter 1

C
orey, like a good Catholic boy, tended to flagellate himself a little too often over his conflict. He recognized his issues, but it didn’t stop the self-torture. It wasn’t even about being Catholic. He told himself that over and over. He was just trying to be honorable. He loved Racha more than he’d loved any woman—except for one.

So when his ex, Jill, came into Racha’s office and said hello like they’d never said goodbye, his entire world was turned on its head.

He could still remember the flavor of her essence on his tongue, like it hadn’t been a year and a half since he’d last been with her, enticing her back into his bedroom one morning and shoving his tongue deep between her legs. Like she hadn’t called him the next day to tell him it was over because she’d met someone else.

That memory turned the remembered flavor of her sweet climax bitter on his lips.

Yet here she was, beautiful as ever and talking to his mate. And Racha, ever the professional, was carrying on the conversation as though it were business as usual.

“Ms. Valenti, I understand you worked very closely with my father before he died. I’d love to hear everything.”

Corey had taken up a spot just behind Racha’s chair, leaning against a heavy bookcase and watching Jill suspiciously. She darted a quick look at him, which he returned as impassively as possible.

“Yes. I’ve worked here for about a year and a half since he hired me as PR Director. It is lovely to finally meet you. I have to say you don’t resemble your father at all.”

“No, I take after Mother more. Forgive me for being so forward, but I gather you and my father had a relationship that went beyond the professional?”

Jill flushed at that, and Corey was sure he caught a slight bite to Racha’s words. He had never discussed her family with her before, aside from her younger brother, Kris, who he considered a good friend. Racha’s last comment before admitting Aris Tech’s as yet unnamed PR Director—and her father’s former lover—to her office had spoken volumes.
“She’s not my mother.”

Jill seemed to catch the tenuousness of the conversation and answered delicately. “Aris could be persuasive. It was always in his nature to get what he wanted.” Jill glanced at Corey again with a slightly apologetic expression.

Corey swallowed and averted his eyes. So that’s who the richer man had been. He’d had no idea of his usurper’s identity. Only that the last time he’d laid eyes on Jill was as she climbed into a sleek limousine after a banquet he and Erika’s team had attended not long before their expedition. He hadn’t seen the man she had been with.

“Why did you stay after he died,” Corey blurted. “I mean, if you loved the man, surely it would be too difficult to be faced with his memory every day.”

Jill flinched at his comment, laced as it was with accusation. Escape was precisely what Corey had done when he lost Jill. He’d left town a couple weeks later and spent the next year with Erika and the others hunting for the ancient temple where he finally met the love of his life, a woman worthy of replacing Jill. Racha glanced over her shoulder at him with a hard look, then took a deep breath and seemed to brace herself when she turned back to Jill.

“My father was never an easy man to live with. He and Mother were estranged for a significant portion of my life, but somehow he always went back to her.

“He told me when we met that his wife had died. Or should I say mate? I know how…
unique
Aris was. You don’t have to hide anything from me.”

“Yes, she died a little more than twenty-five years ago.”

Jill shifted in her seat, her eyebrows drawing together. In a near whisper she said, “He always used to talk about how his days were numbered, but that his daughter would take over for him after he was gone. He seemed so vibrant and full of life at the end, even. So…
young
. He never told me how old he really was until the end.”

Racha stood from her desk chair and crossed the room to pour three drinks from the crystal decanter on the bar. She added an extra measure to one, then turned and handed one to Jill. She handed the fuller one to Corey, giving him a resigned look and surreptitiously caressing his wrist when she passed by. The touch did little to calm him.

“Come sit,” she said, inviting Jill to the comfortable sitting area near the window. The sun streamed through behind her, casting her perfect delicate skin into a golden glow.

Jill sat beside her and took a hesitant sip of her drink.

Seeing the two of them facing each other—Racha’s dark, otherworldly beauty facing the golden light of Jill’s angelic features—Corey’s heart seemed to split. God forgive him, he still loved her.

He almost didn’t hear the rest of her story, as enthralled as he was just watching the two of them. But when Jill turned her back to Racha and lifted up her hair to display the back of her neck, he snapped back to attention. What had she just said? “Marked.”

Just beneath her hairline on the back of her neck was a red, disc-shaped tattoo, identical to his own, aside from the color. It pulsed with a steady inner glow.

“Fuck me,” Corey muttered. “The bastard mated you.”

He immediately felt like an ass for referring to Racha’s father that way, but the fucker had stolen his girl. Of course it wasn’t lost on him that the man had also
fathered
the woman he loved now.

Jill let her hair fall back to her shoulders in a sweep of shining gold and turned back around. Her blue eyes were shining when she met his gaze.

He had an overwhelming urge to walk over and kiss her. To offer forgiveness and ask her to come back to him. But Corey’s life was a lot more complicated now. Between loving the Dragon Queen and his new role as Chief Technical Officer of one of the most profitable technical corporations in the world, he didn’t have room to consider reconnecting with an old lover.

Still, he knew how Reds worked—if Racha’s father had wanted Jill badly enough, there wasn’t much she could have done to resist his seduction. Perhaps he could forgive her someday, but the wound was still too raw, even after all this time. And even worse, the vivid memory of the last time they made love kept replaying through his mind. Right now he just needed to put as much space between the two of them as possible.

While Jill stood and straightened her tailored suit, Corey headed to the door. Racha’s voice held him back.

“Corey, take Jill down to the marketing wing and show her our new plan.”

He glanced back and was confused by the curious look Racha gave him when she stood. She seemed flushed again, like she was primed for sex, even though they’d finished a very satisfying session only moments before Jill had arrived.

Jill stepped forward as if to follow Corey, but Racha gently gripped her arm. “Wait…”

The moment seemed to slow to a pregnant crawl as Corey watched Racha pull Jill into a tender embrace, holding Corey’s gaze the entire time. Racha slid a hand down Jill’s back, but stopped just shy of impropriety. Her thumb rested just over a spot that Corey knew Jill loved to have caressed.

With that one subtle touch, Jill tilted toward Racha. Racha leaned in, pulled Jill’s head toward hers and kissed her deeply.

The sight made Corey’s blood grow hot. It was as though Racha had seen into his mind and was now acting out his own fantasy. Her enjoyment of it was so plain he believed he could taste Jill himself, which only enhanced his longing.

Just a kiss. That seemed to go on forever. He imagined himself holding Jill, sliding his own tongue between those supple lips, the way she would feel and taste, the warmth of her soft curves pressed against his hard body. And he imagined where he would take it next.

As if reading his mind, Racha slid her hand up Jill’s side and cupped her breast, grazed a thumb across the tip that jutted against the sheer fabric of her blouse. Jill tensed and moaned against Racha’s mouth.

Corey was about to either get in on the action or call a stop to it to preserve his sanity when Racha pulled away.

Without a word, Jill turned and followed him into the elevator, dazed from the experience. Corey punched the button for the marketing floor.

Once the doors closed, Corey hazarded a glance at Jill. She leaned against the handrail in the elevator, flushed and rubbing her lips thoughtfully.

“She’s… powerful,” Jill said, then looked at him. “You’re hers, aren’t you?”

“Yes.”

“It’s a little ironic, don’t you think?”

“What do you mean?”

“That I left you for her father and now that he’s gone, here you are, mated to her.”

“I moved on.” The statement wasn’t precisely a lie. He
had
moved on, but sometimes life had a funny way of bringing a person full circle.

“But you came back.”

Yes, he had, and here they were, standing side-by-side in the enclosure of the elevator. He was immersed in the familiar, citrusy scent of her. Her chest rose and fell with deep breaths as though she were trying to calm herself down. The pale silk of her blouse was translucent enough for him to see the pattern of lace of her bra. His gaze drifted higher—her top button had come unfastened, affording him a view of the top of one full breast. He licked his lips, imagining pressing them against the soft skin, tugging the shirt open and making her moan when he took her nipple into his mouth and sucked.

He shifted closer and turned his head to try to smell her hair.

Jill’s head turned toward him a fraction, just enough for him to know without a doubt that she was aware of him. Her shirt fell open just a little more, the silk sliding along the creamy skin of her chest before draping wide and displaying the lace-fringed swell of her breasts.

Hail Mary, full of grace…

His conscience was busy doing a panicked backpedaling, trying to keep his libido under control. Though he didn’t precisely agree with Jill’s observation of his relationship with Racha, it was still the truth. He belonged to her. He’d left the temple six months before as the Dragon Queen’s Consort. Inheritance or not, he and Jill were coworkers now and he had to keep things professional. Racha was the woman he was committed to now. Jill had given up that opportunity more than a year earlier.

He repeated the words like the Catechism. Why wasn’t he touching her? Because she’d given up. She’d left him. He’d moved on. He was with someone else. Someone who had just given him an incredibly erotic scene to ponder that would be stuck in his head for the rest of his life. And now Jill was standing alone with him in a tiny, mirror-walled room and he was struggling not to kiss her just the way Racha had.

His phone vibrated in his pocket. The familiar rhythm told him it was a text from Racha. He glanced at the screen and immediately smacked the STOP button on the elevator’s panel.

“What is it?” Jill asked. Her hands gripped the rails, her eyes wide with alarm.

Worship her the way you worship me.

“Corey! Is something happening?”

He stared at the screen, trying to make sense of it. The prickle at the back of his neck reminded him of the camera in the corner. He twisted his head around to stare up at the mirrored corner of the elevator. The camera was on the other side of the glass, hidden but watching. Racha was watching. And fuck if that didn’t turn him on more.

He turned back to Jill. “Forgive me, baby, for I have to sin.”