Page 45 of Dark Dragon’s Wolf

“The world is never totally safe,” she said. “We just have to live in spite of that.”

She stroked his back again. “You are the bravest, strongest man I’ve ever met. You never give up. I know that if anyone tries to hurt me, if anything ever happens to me, you will do everything humanly possible to save me. That’s all anyone can ask.”

“But what if I don’t?” he whispered. “What if I can’t?”

“Hopefully, nothing will happen to me,” she said. “But if it does, you will.”

Making love with Tristan this time was different. He was slow, deliberate, intent, touching her as if he had to memorize every part of her, remember every moment.

Like he was storing her in his hoard of memories, forever.

The way he sucked on her breasts with total concentration, like there was nothing else in the world. The way he stroked her skin with two fingers, like he was memorizing the feel of it, and watched her shiver at the feathery sensation.

And smiled, like he was watching something amazing.

The way he followed every touch with slow sensual kisses. The way he stoked the flames inside her, gradually making his way to her core. The way he explored her with his tongue, kissing her clit over and over, until she forgot everything but the fire of his loving.

He made her come again and again, until she was trembling with pleasure and want and need, and then he slid inside her and lay there, skin to skin, looking down at her with those blue, blue eyes.

He took her hands, turning each one over and kissing it before intertwining his fingers with hers. And then he slid their joined hands up over her head and moved inside her, closing his eyes and making a small growl of pleasure as she moved her hips to meet his slow thrust.

The feeling of him deep inside her roused something primal in her, and she moaned. He captured her lips with slow kisses that made her hotter and wetter, made her desperate to have all of him, forever.

I love you, Princess Mayah, he said in her mind as they moved together. I will love you until I die, and beyond.

You are my wolf, she said in reply. Mine forever, and even longer.

And then there were no more words, only feelings, as they rose together under the stars and expanded into the galaxy before floating gently back down to earth.

Chapter 21

The next morning, Flynn called a videoconference with the Greystone brothers—Wild Dragons who lived in Oregon, only two hours from the facility where the prisoners were being held.

They were hoping the brothers would agree to help in the rescue of the white wolves. Them and their mates—two powerful witches and an ice dragon.

On the Bad Blood side of the call, besides Flynn, Tristan and Mayah, were Kira, Sloan, Caitlyn, Xander and Tank.

Flynn laid out the situation, and the little they knew about the target facility so far.

“It would be ideal if we could go in there with a portal and take them out that way,” Thorne Greystone, the oldest and most powerful of the brothers, was saying. “Or with one of your space/time doorways, although that’s riskier for the prisoners.”

“Agreed,” his brother Tyr said. He was their healer and historian. “White wolves are known to be mentally unstable, and there’s no telling what’s been done to them in captivity. Add the effects of traveling through the spirit world on top of that, and there’s no telling the damage that could be done.”

“Well, there’s no sense in fucking around talking about what we’d like to do,” Flynn said. “Kira says that place is warded up almost as tight as your lair. Or mine. We’re going to have to do this the old-fashioned way—with a strike team.”

Thorne frowned. “Without any intelligence? From what you say, Kira and the others only saw the inside of the facility, where the prisoners were kept. At least, some of them—there could be more in other areas. We could do a flyover to get the general layout, but if there are multiple buildings, we’re screwed.”

His brother Zane chimed in. “It’s not like we’re trying to get only one person out of there, either. How many prisoners did you say there were? Twenty? Thirty?”

“More like thirty,” Mayah admitted. “And there are bound to be guards. Maybe even sorcerers, considering the kind of magical wards they had.”

“I could break in there.” That was Rebel, Thorne’s mate. Besides being a witch, she was a professional thief. “I can get through just about any wards they have set up, and bring back the intel.”

“Sounds risky,” Flynn said. “You might be able to get through the wards, but that doesn’t mean you wouldn’t set off any alarms.”

Rebel looked offended. “Bite your tongue, Lion. I’m a professional.”

Flynn snorted. “Still, you’re only one person, trying to map what could be an entire complex of buildings in the shortest possible time. We not only need to know where the prisoners are, we need to know about guards, shift changes. Where the main power lines are, if we need to cut them, and whether there’s generator backup.”