“Not anymore.”
I dip my head down and press a kiss to Carina’s lips gently. After taking her moments ago, I want her all over again. I can’t get enough of her. I don’t think there will come a time when I grow tired of having my woman’s body.
The very fact that she opened up about her past and what she went through draws me to her all the more. I want to do everything possible to make her feel safe and whole. I know when she’s with me, she feels safe. She’s told me that, but there’s a differencein feeling physically safe and emotionally safe. Carina just proved to me that she feels it both now, and damn if it doesn’t make me feel good.
We walk together back to the clubhouse with my arm wrapped around Carina’s shoulders, keeping her tucked to my side. I don’t want her far from me. Now or ever.
I still have to talk to her about this challenge, but I need her to tell me about the calls.
“Tell me about the calls.” We are approaching the clubhouse, nearly there.
Carina sighs but doesn’t procrastinate. “I started getting creepy breathing calls a while ago. No words were ever said. They would stop and then start up again. The day of the accident, though, I’d had enough. I was upset about the fight with my brother and screamed at the caller, wanting to know why they wouldn’t stop calling me. That’s when he spoke. It’s how I knew that the dragon was him. He called me dearest. That’s what he said on that one call that he spoke on. It was only moments later I wrecked my car.”
It’s hard to keep myself from showing my reaction, but I manage to do it all the same. This asshole terrorized my mate with calls, scaring her, something she kept to herself, not telling anyone.
“From now on, Carina, you aren’t to keep shit likethis to yourself. You’re not alone. Not ever again. You tell me. Got me?”
Carina tilts her head back to give me her eyes. “Long as you do the same.”
“I can do that. But telling you now, Sweets, there’s gonna be times I can’t tell you what’s going on because it’s got to do with club business. When I say that, it means you can’t know what’s going on. Club business is just that.”
For a moment, she stares up at me before nodding. “I can understand when it comes to that, so long as you don’t lie to me, telling me it’s club business when it’s not and simply just your business.”
Smirking down at her, I can’t help but kiss her all over again. When it comes to Carina, the need to kiss her, touch her, fuck her, is always there.
“Not gonna lie to you about what’s club business, Sweets,” I murmur against her lips. “We need to get our shit packed to go and get the fuck on the road. I also gotta talk to my brothers.
“I can get bags packed while you guys talk,” she offers.
I give her a grin and nod. “You do that, and I’ll talk to the brothers.”
I kiss her once more, and we walk into the front doors of the clubhouse to find everyone gearing up, ready to go. Letting Carina go, I move to Heat andBrimstone while keeping an eye on her as she heads for the back of the clubhouse.
“Everything good there?” Heat asks, cocking a brow.
I let out a heavy breath. “Yeah, we had a talk about shit. Evidently, this dragon I’ve got to go against has been calling her for a while, freaking her out.”
“The fuck,” Inferno snarls, joining us. “What do you mean he’s been calling her?”
I glance at Carina’s brother and shake my head. “Look, I get you want to know that part of shit, but I can’t tell you. Carina finally fuckin’ opened up to me about what she’s been hiding, and I’m not about to ruin that trust. What I will say, though, is that he’s going to be the one to die tomorrow during that challenge. I’m not going to let that dragon anywhere near my mate.”
“What are we going to do about your mother? You know she could have you bound for the challenge, hinder you of your strength.” Brimstone has a point, she could, but I’m not going to let it stop me.
“I’ll deal with her when the time comes. Right now, we have to get one on the road and get there.”
“We’re gonna do recon to see about finding Kinley when we get there,” Brimstone says, checking his weapon.
“We’ll find her,” I tell him, clasping a hand on my VP’s shoulder. “Let’s hope she’s still in Shiverborn, but if she’s not, we won’t stop until she’s found.”
“Damn right,” Fire grumbles, joining us. “Evelin would have all our balls if we didn’t.”
“We’re gonna leave in thirty,” Heat announces. “The sooner we get there, the sooner we can get shit started. We have too much at stake right now to lose focus. This challenge for Pyro and finding Kinley are top priorities.”
“I’ll deal with the challenge and my mother. Inferno and Clay can help you guys with finding Kinley. After I have my mother dealt with, I’ll help in tracing Kinley.” An idea pops in my head, and I know exactly what I need to do to find Kinley if she’s still in Shiverborn. It’s not going to be easy, but to bring someone who belongs to the club back, I’ll do it. “Strike that. We get to Shiverborn, Heat and Brimstone, you guys come with me, and we’ll go deal with my mother. I know exactly how to find Kinley.”
“What are you going to do?” Heat asks cocking a brow. My brothers standing around us silent, waiting for an answer.
“Let me just see if it will work first. Then we’ll go from there. Just trust me on this for the time being. I won’t let you down.” I hold Heat’s gaze, wanting him to believe that I’ve got this.
