Dragon Hunter by Charlene Hartnady

Chapter 20

Riley’s eyes fluttered as she fought to wake up. She moaned and stretched out. Her limbs felt heavy, and her head fuzzy. All she wanted to do was to roll over and sleep some more. Her muscles were sore. Between her legs was tender as well.

She heard the coffee machine. Fog. Today was D-day. Dread filled her. Riley looked down at herself. Crap! She was still in her lacy underwear. After cleaning up with a warm wet towel, there had been round two, followed by round three. Her panties had almost been torn right through the crotch area. At one point, Fog had pulled down one of the cups of her bra to suck on her nipple. Riley hadn’t cared. Not even a little bit. She’d been too wrapped up in the moment. Too wrapped up in him.

Fog was dressed in a pair of black pants. He looked like he was deep in thought as he poured himself a cup of coffee.

“Morning,” she said, trying to smile even though she didn’t feel like it. There was nothing smiley or happy inside her.

Riley was desperately worried about Ashlyn. Of course, she understood that the dragons weren’t sending any search parties. That Fog and his friend, the big guy, Avalanche, were “it” as far as any hope of rescue was concerned. That if they didn’t go down there, her friend wouldn’t be saved. That Ashlyn would have no hope, and yet…she felt sick at the thought of Fog going. What if something happened to him? What if he disappeared and never came back? What if—? She needed to stop right there.

Fog gave her a smile that had things in her tightening all over again. “Coffee?” He held up a mug.

She nodded once. “That would be nice.” Her throat was croaky from all the moaning, yelling, and other godawful noises that came out of her when they were in bed together. When Fog was doing things to her that she hadn’t thought possible. When he’d wrung orgasm after orgasm out of her. Made her feel things…

The thing was, he had enjoyed every moment just as much as she had. He kept telling her how good she made him feel. The way he looked at her made her toes curl. Like how he was looking at her right then. It also made her nervous.

“You okay?” he asked as he put the coffee on the bedside table, still clutching his own mug.

“Yes. I’m just worried, that’s all.”

“About me?” He sat down, and the bed dipped.

“Yes.” Riley moved into a sitting position, pulling the sheet over herself, which was silly since he’d seen everything, and in various different positions.

“I told you, I’ll be fine.” She saw a muscle flicker in his jaw, which he’d tensed up.

Why wasn’t she buying it? “Tell me about this plan of yours. How are you going to get this right?” Fog certainly had far more expertise when it came to this sort of thing, but she just couldn’t think of a way in which a rescue was possible. Those cave dragons could see in the dark. They knew the underground systems well. It seemed like they had the upper hand every way she looked.

“I found some old maps in the library. We’ve narrowed it down to two locations where we think the cave dwellers are located. We’ll ultimately use our senses and our intuition.” He pulled in a breath. “Once we get down there, it’ll be a case of waiting and watching. We’ll need to play it by ear to some degree.” He scratched his chin, the stubble catching.

So far, it wasn’t sounding like much of anything.

“We’re hunters,” Fog went on. “We’re used to thinking on our feet. I was a patrol guard for a couple of years. I’ve faced off the enemy, and more than once. I’ve been in tough situations. Avalanche is as tough as they come, too. We’ve got this.”

It still wasn’t sounding like much of a plan. “What happens if you get caught?”

“They’re the fifth tribe.” He took a sip of his coffee. “They might be estranged from us, but they’re dragons. We’re the same species. I’ll talk to them. Appeal to them.”

“I don’t know about that.” She reached over and took her cup. It warmed her hands, which were suddenly feeling cold. “Their English isn’t very good. Communicating with them might be difficult. They didn’t seem all that friendly or open to…discussion. I wouldn’t rely on finding common ground with them. You might come up short.”

Was she trying to talk him out of saving her best friend? Surely not! Riley made a noise that told him she was still listening. She wanted to hear more.

“We’ll work on avoiding confrontation. I swear, we’ll manage just fine.” Fog was such a good person. He didn’t seem to realize that evil existed. Or maybe he did, and he was choosing to ignore that very important fact. “If we can get in and out without being seen, that would be first prize. We plan on getting out of there well before sunset to give us enough time to get back here before night falls. All we have to do is make it out of those caves.” He made it sound so simple.

“What time is it?” Come to think of it, it felt early. “It’s still dark out.” She realized.

“It’s just after five.” He took a sip of his coffee. “I need to leave soon.”

Riley took a sip of her own coffee. She didn’t taste anything. “I’m starting to worry about this whole thing. I wish there was another way.” She chewed on her lower lip. “I’m worried about Ash, but…” She shook her head.

Fog smiled. “You don’t want anything to happen to me.” He lifted his brows. “I think I might like the idea of you worrying about me while I’m gone.”

“I don’t want anything to happen to you or your friend.” She tried to set the record straight. “I would never forgive myself. Maybe this is a bad idea. I have this bad feeling in the pit of my stomach. We should go and see Thunder and Storm again. Plead with them. Maybe they would listen to reason this time. Maybe they are planning to send a team, and we don’t know about it. What if—”

“They won’t listen to reason! They’ve made up their minds, Riley. There are four kings. The Fire King is our main leader. When Thunder talked about it being out of his hands, he was referring to Blaze having made the decision for him. Bottom line, they won’t risk any of our males for one human. They won’t risk a confrontation for a handful of human females, period. They’re going to allow these cave dwellers to abduct human females. They’re going to turn a blind eye and silence any who happen upon this information.”

“We have to make this information public. In fact, that’s what we should do. It will force them to—”

“You signed that document. You can’t!” His eyes darkened. “More importantly, they will send you back immediately if we so much as utter a word. We’re a very wealthy species. Money is power. They can make your life difficult back home. They’ve done it before, and they’ll do it again. Blaze is a ruthless male. You would—”

“My mom!” she gasped.

“If it affects you, it will affect her as well.”

“She wouldn’t cope.” Riley shook her head. Shit! Fog was right.

“We need to be careful how we approach this. I’m not saying that we won’t go public, but we might have to bide our time.” His jaw tightened. “Perhaps leak the information. We’ll talk about it once I’m back. The plan is to take Ashlyn home right away. We won’t bring her here. We’ll hold all the cards.”

“Why won’t they help? Why go to these lengths?” She put the coffee down. “Are they afraid of these cave dragons?”

“Yes, absolutely. It’s fear of the unknown. On second thought, it’s probably better that it’s just Avalanche and me. We’ll be no threat to them if we’re caught. There’s much less chance of retaliation. There’s a small part of me that hopes we’re found out. I want to talk to these males.” He repeated this line of thought. It worried her more than anything. “I can show them another way. They don’t have to abduct humans. There are better ways of going about things. The path they have chosen isn’t right.”

Her heart warmed hearing him talk. So sweet. So kind. Pity these qualities were right up there on her list. He had to be too good to be true. She licked her lips. “Everything you are saying makes sense, but I still… I can’t help but feel like you’re going into the lion’s den. Like if you go down there, you won’t come back.” It was like a lead balloon in her stomach.

He put the mug down. “I will come back.” He pushed some hair behind her ear, leaving his hand cupping her face. “I have a whole lot to come back to.” His eyes were on hers. They softened. Why did it feel like he was talking about her? No! They had agreed. She was reading this wrong.

He took back his hand.

“Yep.” She nodded like a crazy person. “There’s your job, your friends, your—”

“I’m talking about you, Riley. I want to come back to you. To us.”

“Nope.” She shook her head some more. “I told you that there was no ‘us.’ That there would never be an ‘us.’ We agreed. You told me you’re not ready. That you’re not in a good place.”

“Things change, Riley.” He paused for a moment. “I met you, and…it’s all changed.” It looked like he was gathering his thoughts. “I’ve seen how you look at me. You have to have seen how I look at you. You have to be feeling it right here.” He touched her chest. In the vicinity of her heart.

“I’ve seen a look in your eyes, and it’s lust. It’s sex.” She sounded flippant. “Don’t confuse it with something deeper. I have rules surrounding the men I date, too. I told you at the start of all this. You’re not my type. I like you. I’m attracted to you, but…it won’t work between us. You break every rule and push every boundary, and then some. We can’t be together.”

“You’ve enjoyed our time together, though?”

She hated the hurt she saw in his eyes. Shit! “Yes, of course I have. I’ve probably enjoyed it too much, considering that we can’t be together.”

“Because of a bunch of rules?” There was an edge to his voice.

“Yes. They’re important to me. There’s a very good reason why I have my rules.”

“Why then? Please tell me what that reason is.”

She shook her head. “It doesn’t matter why. It is what it is. Please accept that.”

“I don’t want to sound like a dick, but I bet you they’re not as important as you think. Tell me the rest of these rules. I want to hear them. I want to understand.”

“No,” she insisted. “It doesn’t matter whether I tell them to you or not. We won’t work.”

“Rules are made to be broken. These rules that you have were made to be obliterated. I know you don’t want to hear that, but it’s true, and we can break them together. Every last one of them. You don’t have to be afraid, because I’ll be right there…with you. We can do it as a team.”

He tried to take her hand, but she pulled away. Her heart was pounding in her chest. “We’ve broken too many rules already. We shouldn’t have. I shouldn’t have. I can’t!” She felt her eyes sting. Her throat clog.

“These rules are made to be broken, Riley. They are stopping you from living your life.”

“Says you,” she snapped. “You’re only saying that because it’s not what you want to hear.” She hated how much like Melina he sounded.

“That’s not it. I swear. You’ll be so much happier once you forget your rules. Once you break them. I wish you could see that.”

“Not these rules. My rules are important.”

“Why?” he spoke softly. There was definitely hurt in his eyes.

“Because if I don’t follow them, if I don’t get back in line, I’m going to be the one who’s left broken in the end. I know it like I know my own name. I can’t have that. I can’t!” A tear slipped down her cheek. Just one.

“Oh, Riley…” He used the pad of his thumb to wipe the wet away. For a moment, she was tempted to lean into him but couldn’t allow herself to do it. “Don’t you see? What if we’re both a little broken? I think everyone is broken to some degree; we all have cracks. No one is perfect. What if your breaks fit mine perfectly? What if we’re whole together?”

That was just about the most romantic…the most perfect…the most wonderful thing anyone had ever said to her. For a moment, Riley wanted to throw herself into his arms. To forget everything. To start fresh…with him. To make a go of it and to throw caution to the wind.

Then her phone started ringing. She knew who was calling.

Her mom.

Her mom needed her. As far as her mother was concerned, she had landed back home five minutes earlier. Riley shook her head. “I can’t,” she whispered. “Thank you for everything you’ve done for me. I appreciate—”

“Stop apologizing and, for the love of Christ, stop thanking me already. I’m doing the right thing. I’m doing what needs to be done. At least I’m not running away.”

“Don’t say that.”

“I have to because it’s true. We could be great together if you gave us a chance. If you dumped these bullshit rules of yours.”

“They’re not bullshit!” she shouted, anger clawing its way through her veins. “I wish it could be different,” she said, using a softer tone.

Fog sighed as he stood. “I’m going to rescue your friend so that you can get back to your life. The one where everything is compartmentalized, and you don’t take chances…ever. Don’t worry about me. I’ll be just fine.” He put his mug down on the kitchen counter as he walked past, using long strides. He radiated anger.

“Fog,” she tried, but he was walking to the door. “Fog! Wait!” She stood up, clutching the sheet around her. “Please.” He shut the door with a bang.

Be careful!

Riley sank back down on the bed. She was working hard not to cry. This was for the best. It was! They didn’t have a future together. She picked up her phone and dialed.

“Hi, Mom!” She forced a smile into her voice. “Yes, I just landed,” she lied. “I won’t be able to see you today, but I’ll be over in the morning.” She listened to her mother for a few seconds and then answered. “Yes, Mom. I promise. I’ll be there.”

And she would! One way or the other, she was leaving.