Dragon Heat 2 - Red Hot Dragon (9 page)

suppress the Seer blood within her. When it was safe,

Ignatius had her adopted by a human couple so she would

be raised away from the war, away from all the blood and

madness.”

Avani looked back at the laptop screen. “You think this

girl is her?”

He stared at the image on the screen. “She looks just

like her mother, and the baby’s name was Ivy.” He sighed

heavily. “Niko used some of Mad’s blood in the treatment

he devised for the baby. What if that’s why she’s

connected with him now?”

Avani didn’t have an answer for that one. “You need to

find out if Ignatius or Niko kept in touch with her adoptive

family. If this is her and she went missing on vacation, it

wasn’t simple foul play, Griffin. You know it was
them
.”

“And Mad has probably walked right into a damn trap.”

Growling with frustration, he gazed at the window and

cursed softly before handing her his keys. “Go get your

purse out of my truck and lock it up. We’re staying here

tonight.”

“Here?” She glanced around Mad’s home. “Is it safe?”

“We don’t know how powerful this girl is, and if she’s

under the control of the Knights, she could be mining Mad

for information if he’s been caught. I won’t risk driving

back to your place this close to sunset. We’d be out in the

open. I have to know you’re well-protected.” His

expression softened and he caressed her cheek. “Mad has

an underground cell. It won’t be as comfortable as your

place, but we’ll make do. Once I inform Stig and Ignatius

of our plans, they’ll do their best to get here as quickly as

possible to stand guard over us, just in case.”

Though not thrilled by the idea of roughing it in Mad’s

underground bunker, she recognized that Griffin was trying

to keep them both safe. Knowing how upset he was about

Mad’s disappearance, she didn’t argue with him. Instead,

Avani hurried out to Griffin’s truck to grab her purse and

lock the doors. Back in the house, she found him lugging a

twin-sized mattress downstairs. As if reading her mind, he

explained, “I won’t have you sleeping on cold, hard

cement. No one needs the guest room anyway.”

“Thank you.”

He stopped just long enough to peck her cheek. “See

what you can find in the fridge for a quick dinner but don’t

get your hopes up. Mad’s the kind of guy who only knows

how to barbecue or make sandwiches.”

She watched him disappear into a hallway closet that

had a false back before heading into the kitchen. The water

rings on the countertop made her fingers itch, but the

refrigerator was immaculately clean. Griffin hadn’t been

joking about the food situation. There were stacks of

frozen steaks, pork loin chops, and other heavy meat cuts

in the freezer, and she’d found deli meat and other

sandwich necessities in the fridge.

Her stomach growled with hunger as she fixed a stack

of sandwiches for him and a smaller, normal-sized portion

for herself. Those long sultry nights with Griffin were

revving up her metabolism. She didn’t think she’d eaten in

a month what she’d devoured already in the last few days.

Wondering if that was a positive sign, Avani allowed

her hand to drift to her belly. It seemed too much to hope

that they’d managed to succeed already. There were still

five nights including tonight in her mating phase. From her

research, ovulation usually occurred around the fifth or

sixth night.

“Are you all right?” Griffin filled up the doorway of the

kitchen. Even in Mad’s home where care had been taken to

make the rooms bigger and the doors taller, he seemed to

dwarf everything.

“Perfectly all right,” she said with a smile. “Here.”

He took his plate and hers and placed them on the small

kitchen table. Clasping her hand, he dragged her close and

threaded his hands through her loose hair. After their

impromptu tryst, she’d left it down for him. He teased his

mouth across hers before letting his hand glide down her

front. His hand curved along her flat stomach and he

smiled. “You worry too much.”

“This is a big deal. Shouldn’t I be worried?”

“Avani,” he said her name so gently, “even if it doesn’t

work this time, there’s always the next time.”

“And if that one fails?” She gnawed her lower lip. “It

will be three years before I ovulate again.”

His sexy grin threw her off-kilter. “Then we’ll have

three years of practice under our belts.”

Despite her fear of failing at conceiving, she couldn’t

help but smile at him. “You make it sound so easy.”

“It’s not easy. But that doesn’t mean we have to stress

ourselves out, Avani.” He nuzzled her neck before kissing

her again. “We’re in this for the long haul. I have faith that

it will happen when it’s the right time.”

Surrendering to his warm embrace, she let Griffin’s

calm, practical outlook settle her mind. Safe in his strong

arms, she knew there was nothing she couldn’t face with

him in her corner.

* * *

Griff checked the house one last time before ducking into

the closet and sliding into the hidden compartment there.

Earlier, fitting the mattress down the narrow vertical chute

had been a tight squeeze. The metal ladder was slippery

under his hands and the wet, metallic scent made him want

to sneeze. Getting Avani to go down the ladder hadn’t

been easy. To call her reaction displeased was the

understatement of the century.

He found her pacing the small space lit by harsh

halogen lights. The cell was only twenty feet by twenty

feet and lacked all comforts. The only modern

conveniences were a toilet and sink in one corner. He

caught her eyeing them with disdain.

“Where did this guy shop for his building supplies? A

prison surplus store?”

He started to chuckle but then wondered if she was

right. The stainless steel throne and sink looked awfully

similar to the types installed in prison cells. “Hell,

knowing Mad, anything is possible.”

She rubbed the back of her neck and made a strange

hissing noise. His eyes widened at the animal-like sound.

She glanced at him and licked her lips. Already her irises

were that odd shade of yellow-green. “I need you to touch

me. I’m finding it much harder to hold back tonight.”

Griff rushed to her. The sun hadn’t even fully set yet,

and already she was displaying the more serpentlike

characteristics of the Naga species. The erotic scent of her

arousal swirled around him. Her skin burned beneath his

hands. He suspected that she was beginning the hormonal

surge to cause ovulation. Not wanting to get her hopes up

or make her any more anxious, he kept that suspicion to

himself.

“You smell like heaven.” He peppered light kisses

along her cheek and jaw and the side of her neck. “I can’t

wait to get you naked so I can feast on you.”

She shivered in his arms and rose up on tiptoes to press

their lips together. He could spend an eternity like this,

holding her in his arms and plundering her mouth.

Carefully, he guided her down onto the makeshift bed.

They tore at one another’s clothing until their naked bodies

touched.

When Avani pushed on his shoulders, he got the

message and rolled onto his back. In an instant, she was on

top of him. Though he’d typically been the aggressor,

tonight she embraced the more dominant role. He was

more than happy to indulge her desire, and he groaned as

she nibbled her way down his chest.

Kneeling between his legs, she grasped his cock in one

hand and cupped his balls. Her small hands felt so damn

good on him. She stroked up and down with just the right

amount of pressure and speed while massaging his sac.

When she wrapped her wet lips around his shaft, Griff

growled and fisted the sheets in his hands. The urge to

thrust up into her mouth nearly toppled him but he managed

to muscle it into submission.

The hand curled around his erection accompanied the

movements of her mouth. He was much too thick and long

for her to take all of him, but she found a workaround by

using her fingers and palm to stimulate him. Whispering

her name like a prayer, he sifted his fingers through her

hair and rose up on one elbow to watch her. He burned the

image of her sucking his cock into his brain.

The suction of her hot, moist mouth pushed him too

close to the edge, and he pulled away from her. That

swollen pout called to him. He made sure to claim her

with a sensual kiss, darting his tongue between her lips

until she panted with need.

Desperate to get between her thighs, he turned her onto

her back and shoved her legs wide apart. He descended

upon that juicy pink berry of a clit and lavished it with

oral attention. Honey dripped from her core and eased the

penetration of his fingers. He thrust into her slowly and

rubbed against the spot along her inner wall that made her

toes curl.

Gasping, she clawed at his shoulders while he ate her

pussy. He hummed hungrily against her clitoris and

fluttered his tongue over the little nub. Settling into a

steady rhythm, he licked circles around it until he felt her

thighs tensing. Certain she was close, he sped up his

flicking and worked his fingers in and out of her soaking

channel a bit faster.

With a howl of delight, she came hard. He relished the

feel of her going wild under his mouth. His cock throbbed

and became hard as titanium as he imagined her pussy

gripping his shaft the same way it now gripped his fingers.

Overwhelmed by the desire to hear her shrieking with

ecstasy, he tore his mouth away from her delicious sex and

roughly flipped Avani onto her belly. She cried out with

surprise but quickly rose up on her knees. The sight of her

sexy, wiggling ass enticed him like no other. He dropped

ticklish kisses along her spine before gripping her hips

and driving home with one punishing thrust.

“Griffin!” She shouted his name and pushed back

against him. “Be rough with me,” she begged, her voice so

husky with need. “Fuck me. Fuck me hard.”

In all their time together, she’d never been so brazen.

Hearing such dirty words from her did wicked things to

him. He gave her exactly what she wanted. Jackhammering

her tight passage, he unleashed the side of him he’d kept

hidden away from her and let her feel the full extent of his

lust for her. “Take me,” he urged. “Take all of me,

Vonny.”

She whimpered at his use of a nickname. It was the first

time he’d spoken it aloud, but he’d been thinking of her as

his
Vonny for some time now.

“Griffin.” She groaned his name and reached back to

scratch at his thigh. “Please.
Please!
”

“Touch your clit. Come for me.” He snapped his hips

and pounded her even deeper and faster now. “Come for

me, Vonny.”

She couldn’t deny him any request. Her hand slipped

between her thighs. The vixen stretched her hand back far

enough to run her fingers over his sac. He growled like a

feral beast at the unexpected sensation of her soft hand

moving over his balls. A second later, her fingers were

gone. She rubbed her clit and chased another climax while

he drove into her again and again.

Her shriek of pleasure nearly shattered his eardrums

this time. He had to bite his lip and stare at the ceiling to

keep from coming with her. She threatened his control, but

he managed to hold his orgasm at bay for a little while

longer.

She still trembled and panted for air when he slid out of

her and gently rolled her onto her back. Settling between

her thighs, he sheathed himself with a slow, easy thrust.

Her head tipped back and her lips parted on a rapturous

sigh. He kissed her neck, running his lips over the spot

where her pulse beat rapidly before pushing up onto his

knees.

With a hand on her lower belly, he fucked her with

long, leisurely strokes. He marveled at the sight of his

paler skin against hers. Together like this, they made such

a strikingly beautiful image. Like some luscious goddess,

she gazed up at him with reddened lips and eyes the color

of peridot. In that moment, he realized how much he’d

come to love her.

Falling forward, he pinned her body beneath his and

smothered her with kisses. She arched into him, pressing

her breasts against his chest. The dusky peaks grazed his

skin as their tongues danced. Cupping her face, he held her

gaze as he made love to her. He wanted her to see the

depth of his affection toward her.

As they chased the dizzying heights of pleasure together,

their mouths met again. Cheek to cheek and hand in hand,

they climaxed with such force. The rippling waves of her

orgasmic contractions milked his seed.

Still awash in the euphoria of his climax, he jerked at

the painful piercing sensation suddenly gripping his neck.