Guardian

Acknowledgments

Once more, can’t thank my editors enough. Melissa Breau, Tina Winograd, and NL “Jinxie” Gervasio. You ladies keep me and Rylee on our toes. Also to my readers, Lysa and Creig Lessieur, and Jean Faganello (aka Mom) for taking the time to read and give genuine honest feedback.

And for my readers, this one, like Alex’s short story is in large part for you and for all the requests that Rylee and Liam get some ‘alone time’.

For Terry and all the love he gives me.

Chapter One

To say flying
on the back of a dragon at high altitudes is cold was like saying Death Valley warms up a little in July. And I’d been doing it—flying by dragon-back at high altitudes—for more hours straight than I cared to count.

“Fu … ck … ing he … ll.” My teeth chattered over the words and Liam grunted, tightening his hold on me. If only it were that easy to warm up. His arms were around me and I faced him, my legs wrapped around his waist. He, being the hot-blooded shifter he was, did not feel the cold like I did. The proximity to him helped, it did, but not enough to cut the cold. Just enough to keep me from turning into a Popsicle.

Blaz, dragon extraordinaire, laughed and sent his words to us.

Stop being such a pussy, Rylee. This is the vacation you wanted so badly.

I didn’t have it in me to answer him; I settled for flipping him the bird, which only made him laugh harder. I buried my face in the relative protection between my body and Liam’s.

“I’m sorry, I wish there was another way for us to get there.” Liam spoke softly into my ear as he readjusted his arms around me. I nodded, again keeping my words to myself.

Liam couldn’t cross the veil unless it was a physical entrance, like a doorway. Using the veil like necromancers did, jumping from place to place, was impossible for him. Add into that the powerful energy Liam gave off and how it wigged out technology, and suddenly flying via a more traditional method was also out of the running. Which meant it was flight by dragon-back or not at all.

We could have taken one of the doorways through the castle that acted as a central jumping point, but we didn’t actually know where we were going or which doorway would take us there. I had no desire to go around opening random doors. I’d done that once, the results had not been particularly good.

We’d started our mini-vacation spending time near London, at Jack’s place. No one knew we were there. Hell, even Will and Deanna hadn’t known we’d been in town. More important, though, were the books of prophecy that were there. I’d wanted to have another crack at them.

For three days, Liam and I looked for the books, but they were gone. Hidden away by some asshat. I’d been hoping to find the key that would end the terror that was Orion and his demon hordes coming our way.

Unfortunately, there wasn’t a single freaking trace of the books. The worst part was I suspected the details I needed to know were in the violet-skinned book of prophecy. Of course, Milly stole that while in Orion’s thrall. Orion had the book; hell, he’d probably destroyed it by now, which meant any help I could possibly glean from the pages was gone. Still, it had been worth a shot to try and get something from the remaining books.

A sharp blast of icy wind smacked me in the face, a cold slap reminding me exactly where I was. We coasted along the northern line of Russia, following the water’s edge most of the way. Pretty much as far north as we could be without hitting the Pole.

The reason we were flying so
far
north? Blaz didn’t want to deal with his family—some sort of dysfunctional dragon politics he would only mutter about. He wouldn’t give any real solid reason, other than he wasn’t going there. And let’s be honest, arguing with a dragon never went well for anyone.

Which left me freezing my ass off and wishing I could throw myself into an open flame.

We are almost there, pansy,
Blaz said, his voice rumbling through me, loud enough that I knew Liam heard him too. Then, softer, his voice just for me, he said,
I am sorry. I can’t face my family right now. There is too much going on for me to even skirt their territory. If they knew I was here, we would not be able to avoid them.

His words mollified me only a little. Better yet, he dropped into the relatively warmer air as we began our descent. Sure, it was only a few degrees, but I felt the difference, even if it was still cold enough to freeze the testicles off an ice troll.

I dared to peek out of the tiny warm spot I clung to between Liam and me. Blaz headed inland in a slow circle toward a bare patch of snow surrounded by trees and white capped mountains as far as I could see. As we circled, the ocean came back into view, distant waves crashing to the frozen shoreline. Three sides of mountains, one side of ocean, and not a single road that I could see. Squinting, I pointed to a splotch of brown that seemed out of place in the color scheme. “Liam, what is that?”

He turned to look, his eyes dilating, making the silvery gold of his irises fade. “Looks like a village. Seems odd for the middle of nowhere.”

No kidding. Knowing how far north we were, I hadn’t expected to see anyone except the wolf pack we were to spend time with. Certainly not a human village. I cast another glance that way, but saw no movement. Of course, the dead of winter in northern Russia wasn’t exactly the time to be playing in the great outdoors.

They aren’t far away, but they won’t see us.

Blaz was right; humans never saw what was right in front of them. A trait which helped them survive for a long time; a trait that had helped the supernatural world stay hidden long after it had been forgotten.

Then again, if they knew about the supernatural, maybe we all would have an easier time of things. I let out a sigh knowing I was fooling myself. The humans would never accept our world alongside theirs. Humans didn’t like to be anywhere but the top of the food chain, and having supernaturals in the open would prove they were anything but the top dogs.

“Hey, where’d you go?” Liam touched my cheek, his fingers warm.

My fingers wrapped around his and I shook my head lightly. “Just thinking.”

I didn’t say anything else while Blaz landed, his back claws digging into the hard packed ice and snow in the small clearing. The ground squeaked under his weight, that awful squeal that tells you it’s too damn cold even for snow to be light and fluffy. After untangling myself from Liam and unhooking from the harness on Blaz’s back, I slid down his side and landed on the hard packed snow.

I have something for you from Doran.

Now that was curious. “Why didn’t he give it to me himself before we left?”

Blaz gave a roll of his shoulders and held out his front right claw to me, his digits uncurling one by one. I glanced up at him. “Do you know what it is?”

He only told me not to give it to you until we landed. Something about a time limit.

Son of a bitch. I peered into Blaz’s claw, a guess already forming. A small jewelry box stared back at me. I lifted it out, my hands shaking with the cold. Cracking it open, I squealed—though I will deny, now, that any such noise ever came out of my mouth. A round stone, one I recognized all too well. The stone was smooth, and black with a rainbow of reds, blues, and greens flickering through it. I’d worn a similar opal during my time fighting off the frigid cold of the hoarfrost demon’s poison.

The fire opal hung on a thick silver chain, and I quickly put it on, tucking it under my shirt so the opal came in contact with my skin. It hung against the black snowflake tattoo between my breasts and the instant it touched me … I let out a sigh, the heat flowing through my veins reminding me of sliding into a hot tub, the shivers of pure delight washing through me.

“Remind me to thank him when we get back,” I mumbled, feeling nearly drugged with the euphoria of being truly warm for the first time since we left Jack’s place in London.

Liam didn’t laugh as he reached out and touched the silver chain. “He’ll likely want the kind of thank you only I should get from you.”

I snorted and touched the opal through my shirt as a flutter from the box in Blaz’s hand caught my eye.

The paper blew toward me, and I wondered how much of it was a natural wind and how much was some sort of spell Doran had put on it. The words were scratched into the paper with an old school quill.

Come back soon, Tracker. We need you here in one piece. Don’t make me call in favors to save you.

I’ll bite your delectable ass if I have to do that.

Love,

Doran

Yeah, that was Doran, him and his ass-biting. Liam took the paper, read it and bunched it up into a ball before throwing it away. “Idiot.”

Blaz snickered and launched himself into the air, surprising me. “Where do you think you’re going?”

I have things to do. I’ll be back in a week for you. Call if you need me sooner.
I lifted a hand to him and Liam did the same. The backdraft from his wings slid around us, swirling up the snow crystals not hardened into ice, battering them against our bare faces.

For the first time, Liam and I were truly, and completely alone. No Alex, no Pamela, no monsters chasing us. Not even Blaz to interrupt with an inappropriately placed comment as had happened more than once in London. I almost didn’t know how I felt about that. Liam though, seemed to have no such reservations. He slid a hand around my waist, then down over my hip to cup my ass. Yeah, I wasn’t the only one thinking of our sudden ‘aloneness’.

The heat between us flared as I turned and he pulled me toward him in a slow, steady pull, his eyes never leaving mine. “How well does that fire opal work?”

I blinked several times, going for innocence. “How do you mean?”

His lips quirked and he bent, brushing them against the sensitive spot on my neck, right below my ear. “Will it keep your naked body warm on the snow?”

A shiver rippled the entire length of my body, landing squarely in my belly. Hot and cold, the ice below, and Liam’s body above. It was a heady image that curled through my mind, one I couldn’t banish.

“Worth a try,” I whispered as his teeth nipped along my shoulder and I realized he’d already started to peel me out of my clothes. This wasn’t the reason we’d come to Russia, no, we’d come to see the wolves. For Liam to learn from them, to understand his own power more clearly and what he could do with it.

But how often would we get these chances to be alone together? Less and less, if my prophesied life was any indication.

Liam bent his knees and wrapped his arms underneath my ass, picking me up with ease. “I think over there might be better.”

I didn’t look where he was headed, just trusted him. I let my fingers trace the edge of his face, down his jaw and neck, the light stubble prickling against my skin. This was more than I could have ever hoped for in my life. For so many years, I’d assumed I would be alone. I didn’t have time for a traditional relationship, having a family was out of the question with the dangers I faced in my chosen career. Tears pricked at my eyes at the love between us, the reality that I had someone who would hang onto me until the end, whether bitter or sweet. There wasn’t more I could ask for in a mate.

His eyes glimmered suspiciously and though no tears were shed, the emotions around us swelled. Slowly, he stripped us both of our clothes, laying them on the snow bank where the drift was softer. When I wore nothing but the opal, and Liam less than that, the real torture began.

We stood naked to the world around us. The wind was warm against my skin thanks to the fire opal, but it held nothing to the rush of heat Liam’s fingers and mouth traced over my body. He went to one knee and tugged me close, pressing his cheek against my belly. The stubble tickled and I laughed softly as I slid my hands through his thick dark hair, the ache in me heightening with each soft, sensual touch he grazed along my skin with exquisite care.

He slid his hands down my thighs to the backs of my knees, down my calves to my ankles and then slowly back up again, curling to the inside of my thighs. I let out a sigh as his fingers found their way to where I wanted him, followed closely by his tongue and lips. He worked me into a near frenzy, my knees barely able to hold me upright, and then the bastard stopped a split second before I crumpled to the ground.

“Why did you stop?” I whispered, barely able to breath.

“I’m taking my time,” he murmured, pulling me down with him to the rough bed made out of our shed clothes. He reached up and spread my hair out, fanning it around my face. “So beautiful.”

I reached for him and he batted my hands playfully away. “Let me have my fun, then you can have yours all you like.”

Did he really think I was going to deny him? Not fucking likely.

His mouth found my breasts and pulled a heated gasp from me as his hands yet again worked that demanding ache between my legs. Slow and steady, he strummed my body like a master violinist. Each sweet stroke of his mouth and fingers drew me to a higher peak that he didn’t let me quite touch, driving me into a maddening ball of heat and desire I couldn’t reach on my own. Over and over again he brought me to the sharp edge of pleasure, only to pull me back from it.

“Liam.”

He lifted his face, his eyes pinning me to the ground even if the rest of him hadn’t been. “Beg.”

Oh my fucking gods. I whimpered the word, unable to do more. “Please.”

He slid into me with a single smooth thrust, my body more than ready for him, wet with all the desire he’d strung out of me. I hooked a leg over his hip and lifted myself to meet him, our rhythm steady, one born of stolen moments and a love so bright, neither of us could contain it.