Dragon Storm (15 page)

They ate with her grandfather and the audience of snowcats, then were shown to the best guest quarters the village had to offer. Josie had never been more grateful to see a bed than she was at that moment. Jet lag had caught up with her in a big way.

She stumbled to the low sleeping platform and tumbled onto it face-first. She snagged a pillow and tugged it under her head, shutting her eyes and wishing she didn’t have to move from that position for several hours, at least.

Her wishes were granted in the form of two sexy hunks who undressed her where she lay, manipulating her limp body with skill and caring as they removed her clothes. They rubbed her tired muscles, one starting with her feet, the other at her shoulders. Before long, she was moaning in bliss, relaxed as a wet noodle and purring for her lovers.

The purr only grew louder when they rolled her to her back and switched places. Connor moved to massage her aching breasts while Darius settled between her spread thighs. After a few experimental forays of his talented tongue, he got into a rhythm that revived her and made her want to participate fully in their love play, but they wouldn’t let her. When she tried to reach for them, they politely removed her hands and placed them at her sides.

“This is for you,” Connor said as he kissed his way down her collarbone to her breast. “All for you, my love.”

“But I want to touch you.” Even to her own ears, she sounded whiney. Connor held her hand away from him, pressed to the mattress.

“Later, dear one. Let us do the touching for now.”

Connor sat behind her, cradling her upper body with his while his twin lapped at her center like a cat with cream. Her body began to shiver with arousal, desperate for her men.

“Please don’t make me wait,” she panted.

Darius looked up, holding her gaze as he slipped two fingers into her wet core. He began to stroke, holding her hips down when she wanted to squirm. When he dipped his head once more to take her clit between his lips it only drove her higher—but not high enough.

“I need more, Darius. I need you.” She was panting in time with the shallow thrusts of his fingers. She needed deeper penetration. The kind she knew he could deliver with his cock. An indecipherable look passed between the brothers as Darius rose above her.

“Are you certain, love?” Darius asked, his voice laced with concern. “We wanted to give you pleasure.”

“You have, but I need you, Darius. And you, Connor. Don’t make me wait. I always need you.” She sounded as desperate as she felt, and she could see her words affected her men.

“Then you shall have us.” Connor spoke from behind her, nodding to his brother.

“Sweet Mother of All, how did we get so lucky to have you as our perfect mate, Josie?” Darius rose over her, replacing his fingers with something much more satisfying.

He slid home in a powerful stroke that left her breathless. As he began to thrust deeply within her, Josie turned her head, taking Connor by surprise. His hard cock was within easy reach, with a little twisting and stretching that came easily to a nimble shifter like herself. She took Connor in her mouth as his twin claimed her pussy with ever-deeper strokes.

All three of them gasped as the flames licked higher between them. They were locked in passion. Three as one, the twins pleasuring her as she pleasured them. The moment stretched, perfect in its intensity. The bubble of her love rose to encompass them all. The three who would face whatever came in these uncertain times…together.

Josie cried out when she hit her peak. The twins weren’t far behind. Both of them gasped as their bodies joined hers in the ultimate bliss, bathing her in their come, lifting her away from this Earth to a place only the three of them could reach. Together.

At dawn, the village around them began to stir and Josie woke, realizing just how thin the walls of the guest cottage they’d been given really were. A blush stole over her features as she thought of their cries of passion the night before. Her mates had pleasured her several times before they fell into an exhausted heap on the wide bed.

A satisfied smile licked over her lips as she looked at Darius and Connor. They were down for the count. She’d done that to them. She’d given them the peace they needed to sleep deeply. Not even the noises of the bustling village beyond their door disturbed them.

Josie slipped from the bed, intending to rustle up some breakfast for her men. She remembered the communal cafeteria at the center of the village. She would go there and get a decent meal for them, bring it back and serve her very first breakfast in bed.

That thought in mind, she dressed quickly and headed outside. The guest cottage was on the outskirts of the village. Walking in the cool morning air was invigorating. She passed a few people on her way to the cafeteria. Most nodded in greeting, saying nothing.

Not so, when she came face-to-face with a man she’d hoped to avoid.

Jet, her grandfather’s chosen successor—the man he’d wanted her to marry—blocked her path. His face held no welcome, only an angry sneer.

“I heard you with them last night. Half the village did.” Jet looked angry. Truly upset and out of control. This was not the cool-headed warrior she remembered from her youth. She had to be strong in the face of his anger.

“They are my mates. It is my right to behave however I wish with them in the privacy of our bedroom. This is none of your business, Jet. Now let me pass.”

He leaped in front of her, barring her way once more. “Not so fast. You were promised to me, Josephine. Me. You should have been mine, as leadership of the clan will be mine. But you had to go and ruin it all. Now you will pay for your willfulness. Your grandfather should have disciplined you long ago.”

He raised his hand to strike her. The blow never fell. Darius was there, holding Jet’s wrist with deceptive ease. Josie knew how strong Jet was. Darius had to be even stronger to hold him without any apparent effort on his part. Josie was impressed again with her amazing mates.

“Leave now, and we will forget this foolishness. You are never to approach our mate again. Do you understand?” Connor spoke from her side as he pulled her against him, to safety. Only when she was out of range did Darius release Jet’s wrist, but he didn’t go far.

“I do not take orders from you,
lizard
.” He made the word an insult. Neither Darius nor Connor seemed to care. It was clear they were superior. Too bad it looked like Jet needed to learn that lesson the hard way.

Connor took her another few steps away, and then time seemed to slow for Josie. Jet was as fast as any snowcat, which was to say
fast
. He reached into his jacket and pulled a gun.

That in itself was shocking, for firearms had never been part of the snowcat world. They were not part of the ancient teachings, and her grandfather upheld prior rulings to outlaw them in the snowcat village.

Josie ducked, trying to drag Connor down with her, but he stayed upright. He must’ve perceived the danger though, because he shifted to his dragon form in the blink of an eye.

The sharp report of the gun made her gasp, and then she heard a pinging sound. Josie looked to see what had happened as the acrid smell of burned gunpowder hit her nose.

Where Darius had been standing was now Darius’s dragon form, his chest encased in that shiny metal armor. Jet dangled, unconscious, from one front claw, the gun lying on the ground several feet away.

Darius was unharmed, as was Connor, and Josie breathed a sigh of relief. Her men were safe.

“What happened? I know he got a shot off, but what did it hit?” Josie searched for the bullet and answers as the villagers gathered to discover what the commotion was about.

Jet was in deep trouble. He’d broken their laws and accosted not only her, but the dragon princes, their honored guests. He’d just guaranteed his own exile, the fool.

“It hit me,” Darius said with disgust as he lowered the unconscious man to the ground where several big men waited to take him into their custody. Then Darius turned toward them and shifted form. “Or rather, it hit the breastplate. Right about here.” He held his hand over his heart, and Josie sagged in shock. She’d come so close to losing him. “What was that thing, anyway?” He rubbed the area over his heart as she ran to him, sobbing.

He looked confused, but she was too overcome to explain anything at that moment. Darius had almost died. She threw herself into his arms, touching him all over, making sure he was really okay.

“That was a firearm. A gun. Very common in the world outside. They are outlawed here in our village. Jet deceived me.” Her grandfather walked up to them, an equally grim-faced Connor at his side. “He deceived all of us. He will be dealt with. Have no fear on that score.”

“What is a firearm? It sounds magical, like a firedrake,” Connor asked innocently. Josie sobbed anew, knowing beyond the shadow of a doubt that these special men could not survive in this world of technology. They were totally unprepared for it.

“It is not. It is merely technology. The smaller ones fire small projectiles, but they are still enough to kill a man, or a shifter. The speed with which these projectiles fly can penetrate almost anything—probably even dragon scales, I’m afraid. The larger weapons can kill huge beasts or blow up vehicles. Some can blow up entire cities.”

“That sounds like magic to me,” Darius said with a dark frown.

“It is not. It is the ingenuity of man alone. Something even more fearsome in this world than magic.” Josie’s grandfather shook his head in apparent disgust with the entire situation as he turned to go.

“Darius.” She found her voice at last, the sobs receding. “That bullet could have pierced your heart. You would have died.” She hung on his shoulders as his expression went from disbelief to concern. He was beginning to understand. “The armor saved you. It protected your heart.”

Darius hugged her close. “You are my heart,” he whispered, holding her gaze. “You’re right, it did protect my heart.”

She kissed him, relieved and charmed at the same time. Only Darius could be gallantly charming while simultaneously scaring her to death.

When she rose from the drugging kiss, she turned to Connor. “Please put on the amulet. I want you to be protected too. This world can be a dangerous place.”

Connor reached into his pocket and took out the necklace, weighing it in his hand as she walked over to him. He looked down at the metal in his hand and then up at her face.

“For you, my love. I’d risk anything to make you happy.”

“Risk?” She was confused.

Darius encircled her waist from behind. “Con is the most cautious man I know. He wanted to see what the necklace did to me before he took the chance and put his on.”

“It saved his life, Connor.” She tried to hide her exasperation. “I think that’s proof enough it’s a good thing, don’t you?”

Connor gave her a cunning smile. “I suppose you could be right.”

Holding her gaze, he slipped the necklace over his head, and she watched it gleam in a sudden shaft of sunlight. A single chiming note sounded in her ear so fast, she might’ve missed it, but it sounded like the purest of crystal, the most colorful of rainbows, the most powerful of magics.

“Did you hear that?”

“What?” Connor shrugged, and she got the idea he hadn’t noticed the short, high-pitched sound.

“Just a tone of magic when you slipped that on.” She gestured toward the amulet resting over his heart. “Don’t worry. It sounded really good. Peaceful. Pure.”

Connor looked at her strangely, seeming willing to accept her word for it but curious about the occurrence.

“What’s a firedrake?” She remembered the comment that had piqued her interest a few minutes back.

“A person who has the ability to direct magical flame,” Connor answered. “They can burn evil and control their fire. It is said they are descended of wizards and very rare.”

Darius picked up the explanation. “Some have come to light in our land in recent weeks. My brothers worry that it is a further sign that dangerous times are coming to our land.”

“We will go to Marpa’s mountain today.” Her grandfather spoke into the silence, drawing all eyes. “Break your fast, then meet me by the ledge where you arrived. It is as good a place as any to begin our journey.”

“Do you really mean to take them to Gang Rinpoche?” She used the local name for the holy mountain also known as Mount Kailash. Climbing the mountain was forbidden. It was considered a sacred place by five different religions.

“Marpa had a cave on the crystal face of the mountain. It is there you must go to seek your answers. I will guide you there, if you will allow me to fly with you? The mountain cannot be climbed.” For the first time in her life, Josie saw her grandfather look hesitant. It was a revelation. Even her fearsome grandfather respected the abilities of her new mates.

“Do you want to go there, love?” Darius asked in a soft voice.

Gathering her courage, she nodded. “If Grandfather thinks we should, then we should. It’s a holy place. One where nobody is allowed to go.”

“Except the snowcat elders,” her grandfather chimed in. “Though no snowcat elder has made the journey in millennia. The time was not right. I have seen the signs. The time is now. Will you take me?”

“We will go anywhere our mate needs to go.” Connor’s voice was firm, his resolve clear. They were going to fly to the sacred mountain. May the Mother of All watch over them.

They arrived at the departure point a short while later. They’d eaten, bathed and Josie had dressed in her warmest clothing. It was bound to be cold on that peak. Her men were dragons and impervious to the cold, but she clung to her jacket as closely as she clung to the warmth of her mates.

Her grandfather was waiting for them when they arrived, and Connor went over to him, speaking in respectful, low tones. She couldn’t hear what they were talking about and made to move closer. Darius blocked her path with a devilish grin on his face.

“I get you this time.” Darius snagged her around the waist and led her a short distance from his brother. “I’ve been waiting to feel your legs wrapped around me, sweetheart.” His whisper in her ear made her shiver. “Don’t worry, I won’t let you fall. I’ll never let you fall.”