Dragon with the Girl Tattoo by Julia Mills

Chapter Seventeen

Tessa’s information about her uncle’s real estate holdings was perfect. Not only did they find the Cambion, but also four Succubus and two Incubus. With no signs of Ulnac or Thomas, Lenn sent Tessa to bed as the sun began to rise and worked until late afternoon with his Brethren. Their sole focus was making sure they could take down the Master Vampire’s warehouse with no damage to the other properties on either of the four sides.

Bone tired and ready to drop, Lenn made his way across the Lair and up the stairs of his home, before collapsing next to Tessa who still had a few hours left of her day sleep. Cuddling behind her, he fell fast asleep, awaking only when she whispered, “Kayne, Max and Rory are downstairs.”

“You have got to be kidding me,” he groaned, rolling over to capture Tessa within his arms.

“No, Mo ghrá,” she chuckled. “No matter how much I wish I was.” Kissing him on the forehead, she whispered, “Just think, the sooner we get going, the sooner we can come back here and be alone.”

Pulling her closer, he kissed her neck, teasing the pulsing vein at the base of her neck, loving her sexy inhale and the quiver in her voice when she purred, “Oh, you are a bad, bad Dragon.”

“Would you have me any other way?”

Capturing her lips, he inhaled Tessa’s moan as she deepened their kiss. Letting his fingers massage her magnificent body, he needed her more than he’d ever needed anything in his life.

Falling face first into the mattress when she pulled back, he roared, “Damn you, bastards! Damn you to Hell! Go away and leave us alone!”

“Hurry up, Loverboy,” Rory chuckled.

“Shut up!” Lennox yelled again as Tessa giggled.

“Paybacks are a bitch, my friend,” the youngest O’Reilly brother retorted. “I seem to remember a certain Mad Bomber giving me a shit ton of grief when I found Claire.”

“Did you really do that, Lenn?” Tessa tried to hide her laughter as she half-heartedly scolded him.

Rolling over, he looked up at her, and in his best imitation of a good little boy, Lenn shrugged, “Maybe… but you like me bad, remember?”

Leaning over, his sexy-as-hell Mate gave him a quick kiss before getting to her feet and teasing him with an incredibly sexy walk that had his heart racing and his cock hardening. Standing with her hand on the door frame and her hip cocked to the side, Tessa looked over her shoulder, winked and purred, “Oh baby, I love you just the way you are,” before disappearing into the hall with an evil giggle.

“You will pay! All of you will pay!”

“At the risk of sounding like a total spoilsport, I must insist you hurry, Lennox.” Max’s accent was more pronounced than usual as the King chuckled, “After all, you are the star of our little show this evening.”

“Time’s wastin’,” Kayne added.

“I’m comin’. I’m comin’,” Lennox grumbled, hurrying to shower.

Dressing as fast as he could, the Guardsman raced down the stairs as Vulcan reminded, “Do hurry, Lad. I fear Rian may have a stroke. That tiny little vein in his head pops out and throbs when he’s tense and you’re late.”

“I’m hurrying. I’m hurrying.”

Lenn’s foot barely touched the bottom step when Rory teased, “That was quick.”

“Yeah, well, now I have a reason not to get in trouble with your brother.” Looking over at Tessa, there was no doubt in Lenn’s mind that she was the reason for everything good in his life from the moment they met.

“Ah, isn’t love grand?” Max winked, putting his arm around Tessa. “If he ever gives you any trouble…” He whispered conspiratorially in her ear.

“I’ll call.” She winked. “I promise.”

“Thanks Max,” Lennox pretended to gripe. “Thanks for turning my girl against me.”

Giving him the sexiest little grin he’d ever seen, Tessa purred, “Never, a chuisle mo chroí, never.”

After kissing his Mate soundly amid catcalls and teasing from his friends, Lenn herded everyone to the Hall just as Rian was growling, “Where are they?”

“We’re here, Ri? Don’t have a stroke,” Rory calmed, being the one person, besides the middle O’Reilly brother who was thousands of miles away, with the ability to get away with talking to the Dragon Leader that way in front of his Guardsmen.

Shaking his head, Rian looked around the room before finally giving them all a half-smile. “You all know why we’re here. Unfortunately, it’s not the first time and won’t be the last that we must prepare for battle. Some of us have fought this enemy before. Others of us are new to the fight. But all have suffered because of the Cambion, the Incubi, the Succubae and the Vampires.”

Looking at Lennox’s Mate, the Dragon Leader’s smile warmed as he winked. “Present company excluded. Tessa, you are always welcome at this table and in this Lair. You are one of us. Never forget that.”

Rian’s look turned grim along with his tone, making Lennox uneasy and Vulcan to growl, “I hate it when he says that.”

“Yeah, me too, Old Man. Me too.”

“I wish it could’ve been under better circumstances…” Rian’s head fell forward and if it hadn’t been for his shoulders bouncing up and down with barely contained laughter, he might have actually gotten away with his gag. As it was, both Lenn and Vulcan were breathing a sigh of relief when the Dragon Leader went on, “…that took the pain in the ass Mad Bomber off our hands.”

Erupting into laughter, everyone in the room was clapping and congratulating them and, in that moment, everything became crystal clear. “This is what we’re fighting for, Vulcan. These people, our family, and this wonderful, beautiful woman by our side.”

“Damn, Lad, you finally caught up.”

“Okay, okay,” Rian calmed. Looking at Lenn as everyone got quiet, he grinned, “Sorry, I couldn’t resist.”

“No problem, Boss.”

It took thirty minutes for Rian and Max to explain the game plan, and another half hour for everyone to load up in the SUV. Heading to the warehouse owned by Ulnac Mooreland, Lenn spent most of the time trying to convince Tessa to stay in the car. Doing everything in his power to persuade her to stay out of the way of danger.

“Are you serious?” Tessa slapped the seat between them. “I have to be there.” Swatting his thigh, she stressed, “I need to be there. My family, or at least part of them, are the reason for all of this. It’s my responsibility to help clean up after Ulnac.”

“Tessa…” he growled.

“Lennox…” she growled in return, making him hot and bothered and wishing they were alone.

Leaning forward, he captured her lips, kissing her with all the love and affection in his heart and soul. Pulling back, only because the SUV was coming to a stop in the park a few blocks from the target, Lennox looked deep into Tessa’s eyes and strongly reiterated, “Stay right by my side. Do not do anything dangerous. If anything happens to you, I’ll…I’ll…” The lump in his throat got too big to talk around, so he finished telepathically, “Dammit, Tess, I’ll die without you. I love you.”

Crushing her lips to his, she replied in kind, “And I love you. So, remember that when you’re blowing stuff up.”

Hurrying out of his seat, Lennox raced around the vehicle and helped Tessa down before going back to unload his equipment. Smiling as his Mate grabbed a couple of his duffle bags, he laughed out loud, when she mentioned, “Maybe you can teach me how to use all the goodies in these bags sometime? We could be the Mad Bombing Couple.”

Loving Tessa even more than he had the moment before, Lennox led the way along the route he’d been assigned while keeping in close contact with his Brethren. Stopping outside the chain link fence surrounding Ulnac’s warehouse, he got the ten charges he’d prepared earlier in the day out of the bag.

Leaving Tessa to watch his equipment, Lenn placed the first four charges on the far side of the large rectangular building. Ready to head back to collect the rest, he was overwhelmed with the scent of rotten fruit and old blood.

Spinning to the left, he ducked just in time to miss the sharp edge of the long blade flying at his neck. Pulling the sword from his back at the same time that Kayne and Maddox appeared on either side of him, the three Guardsmen battled a trio of young Cambion.

“Where the fuck did these assholes learn to fight?” Kayne spat. “They can’t be older than a week, maybe two.”

But Lennox was too worried about his Mate to think about the fighting acumen of the enemy. “We’ve got bogeys and more incoming. Go protect Tessa,” he called to Rory, knowing he was the closest to his Mate.

“No can do, brother. These bastards are everywhere. Can you blow the building now?”

Kicking an oncoming Cambion in the chest, Lenn leapt on the soul-sucker and beheaded him before answering, “No way. Explosives are only set on the far side.”

“Then we fight,” Rian roared, answering instead of his brother.

One after another the Cambion came. Where the Dragons had estimated at most fifty, Lenn was sure there were more than two hundred. They fought like mindless cattle, charging ahead with no plan, only to be sliced, diced or beheaded by one of the Guardsmen.

“Tessa, go back to the truck,” Lennox called, slashing across two more Cambion as he worked his way towards the spot where he’d left her.

“Tessa, honey, answer me.” Another Cambion down and Lenn raced towards the far corner of the lot, searching for his Mate. Screaming at the top of his lungs, Lennox sped into the darkness.

“Tessa! Where…”

The words froze in on his tongue. His feet refused to move. It was as if time stood still. There she was, the woman he loved, in midair with a very tall, very smug looking Vampire’s hand around her neck.

“Back off, Dragon,” the Vamp demanded. “And call off all your little playmates or I’ll snap Tessa’s neck.”

Dropping his sword, Lenn held his hands in front of himself, trying to pacify the man he knew was his Mate’s Uncle Ulnac. “Just put her down. Then we can talk.”

Watching the Vampire slowly shake his head as Tessa struggled to breathe, Lennox shook with rage as Vulcan snarled, “Let me out, Lad. Let me take care of this for both of us.”

But he could seek to reassure his Mate. “Hold on, Mo chroí. I’m not gonna let anything happen to you.”

Searching his mind, Lenn went through every scenario he could think of and some he made up on the spot. There had to be a way to stop Ulnac from killing Tessa without hindering his friends from eradicating the Cambion.

Then her strangled voice floated through his mind, and he couldn’t believe his ears. “B-blow h-him…up… S-stop h-him…”

Stepping forward, Lennox demanded, “Put her down, Ulnac! The fight’s over! Almost all your creatures are dead! You lost!”

“I’ll never…”

In a flash, even before he finished what he was saying, Ulnac’s head flew off his shoulders and rolled across the pavement. Hitting the ground so hard he felt her pain, Tessa didn’t move not even when a tall, wounded Vampire appeared out of the shadows with blood dripping from the blade of his sword.

Speeding forward, Lennox scooped Tessa up into his arms, extending his broadsword with his free hand and roaring, “Get back, you fucking bloodsucker. Just get the fuck back or I’ll cut you in half the long way.”

“L-Lennox,” Tessa whispered, patting him on the chest.

“Not now, Darling,” he murmured. Heading snapping from side to side, he bellowed, “Kayne! Rory! Pearce! Anybody! Get the hell over here.”

Appearing at his side as if out of thin air, Max laid his fingers on the top of Lennox’s blade. Pushing it towards the ground, he motioned with his free hand to the Vampire. “Lennox O’Lachtnáin, I am pleased to introduce Thomas Mooreland.” Then with a shit-eating grin, the Panther King added, “Thomas, meet your daughter’s Mate, the Dragon we call the Mad Bomber.”

“Holy shit. I’ve done it again,” was all Lennox could say, as he held Tessa tightly and let his head fall forward.