Home > Storm Forged (Death Before Dragons #6)(11)

Storm Forged (Death Before Dragons #6)(11)
Author: Lindsay Buroker

“Is it the French Sumatra from Lighthouse Roasters?” Gondo gripped the backs of our seats as he focused on the thermos. “That’s my favorite.”

“I didn’t ask.”

“You didn’t? I can sample it and let you know if it has the dark caramelized flavor and deep complexity of the French.”

“That’s not necessary.” As I turned off the interstate and headed east, the traffic opened up. Good. I didn’t know how long I could keep Gondo’s lips out of the coffee thermos.

“Will you give it to Work Leader Nogna?” he asked. “Her palate is primitive. The nuances of good espresso will be lost on her.”

“I’m sure she’ll like it.”

Gondo humphed and started exploring the tools in the back of the Jeep. What were the odds that I could get there before he built something out of my jack and tire iron?

Freysha watched out the window as I drove past Lake Stevens. Even though we’d been roommates for the last couple of weeks, we hadn’t discussed many topics beyond looted charms and my training. I didn’t know much about her, other than that she was my half-sister and that my father had sent her to spy on me and see what kind of person I was.

I wondered if the mission bothered Freysha. Eireth had admitted she’d been preparing to study engineering on the goblin home world, not on Earth. Her plans had been derailed when he’d learned of my existence and decided to send her here. She was perky and friendly, but did she resent this at all? Resent me?

“What do you think of Earth so far?” I wasn’t good at small talk and wondered if she would find my questions awkward.

“It’s an interesting place. It’s so very busy, though, with so many people.”

“You might like today’s trip then. The old sanctuary is between hiking trails, so I doubt we’ll run into anyone until we find the goblins.”

“It will be good to walk in the woods and listen to nature. Your neighbor has a very obnoxious machine that he uses frequently in the mornings.”

“The guy with the leaf blower? Yeah, I agree. Especially since all he does is blow the leaves into the street and toward our house.”

“Would you ever consider leaving Earth?”

“To go where? I wasn’t welcome when I visited your world.”

“No?” Freysha lifted her eyebrows.

“The greeter elves were snooty and said I couldn’t stay in your tree city. Later, a randy dragon sang to me in the woods, but that wasn’t enough to make me want to stay.”

“I am surprised.”

“Then you’ve clearly never been sung to by a dragon.”

“Not about that. I am surprised you were turned away. You are Father’s—the king’s—child, even if you are only half elven. You should have some rights among our people.”

“The welcoming committee wasn’t informed. It’s not a big deal. What are you going to do with the engineering knowledge you gain here?” We passed through Granite Falls and headed into the Mt. Baker-Snoqualmie National Forest, the openness of the agricultural areas we’d driven by giving way to towering moss-draped evergreens.

“I wish to repair and improve some of our older cities that are tethered together with magic instead of engineering. The magic fades over time and must be continually renewed by the builders. When I was younger, I saw a boy fall through a railing and to the ground below before anyone with magic enough could stop him. He died.”

I was about to answer when I sensed Zav. We were almost to the place where I planned to park and hike into the woods. Now he showed up.

As I pulled over to the side of the road, he came down fast and right in front of us, wings tucked so he could fit between the trees. The landing was abrupt enough that I worried he was in trouble. Or I was.

Problem, Zav?

His eyes flared violet as he looked at us through the windshield, his magical power radiating from his big dragon form. A problem. Yes.

He shifted into his human form—he wore his robe with his usual slippers today, no new experiments with footwear—and strode toward us as I opened the door. A skinny green arm reached up between the seats. I grabbed the coffee thermos before Gondo could snatch it. He would implode if he drank all those espresso shots by himself.

“I will speak with you alone.” Zav stood in the road beside my door.

He radiated irritation, though I doubted it had anything to do with me. I hadn’t seen enough of him lately to irk him, so I assumed his meeting with his family had not gone well.

“I need a favor, so I’m not going to point out that you’re supposed to say please after a statement like that.”

“What favor?”

A car drove around the bend, heading straight toward him. I closed the door and waved for him to get off the road. He ignored the gesture and glared balefully at the oncoming car. There weren’t any other cars in sight, so the driver moved into the other lane, but he honked self-righteously at Zav.

A wind blew up out of nowhere, whipping my braid around to slap me in the face as it blew against the side of the honking car. Tires squealed as it was forced off the road.

“Zav.” I lunged out and grabbed his arm.

The wind subsided, and the driver managed to maneuver back onto the pavement, but not before he lost his driver-side mirror on a mossy tree trunk. It crunched loudly and fell to the earth. The driver sped away without stopping to retrieve it.

Zav glowered at me. “The vermin on this planet are not properly respectful of dragons.”

“This is true, but dragons probably shouldn’t stand in the middle of the road.” I smiled and patted him on the chest.

My smile did nothing to alleviate his peevish mood. Aware that Freysha and Gondo had gotten out of the Jeep and were now standing and watching us from the other side, I held a finger up to Zav, and trotted the thermos over to them.

“Would you mind going ahead to the sanctuary and telling them about the plant we need? Zav wants to talk. I’ll catch up as soon as we’re done.”

“We can handle this.” Freysha nodded.

Gondo reached for the thermos. I held it above his head as I handed it to Freysha.

“As a thank-you for helping us, please offer that to all of the goblins who are interested. If there’s any left over, Gondo can have it.”

“You’re giving all of the French Sumatra to wild goblins that drink out of streams?” Gondo moaned. “They won’t properly appreciate it.”

“I will, Val.” Freysha accepted the thermos and headed into the woods in the right direction, despite having never been here before.

“Val.” Zav spoke the syllable in a clipped you-will-attend-to-me-now manner that had my hackles up, but if the sanctuary was a dead end, I would need him to take me to another world for that plant, so I decided to hold my tongue and be conciliatory.

“What’s wrong?” I returned to his side as another car came.

He glowered in that direction, as if he couldn’t believe the rudeness of humans who presumed to use the road he’d chosen to land on.

“Let’s go talk in those trees over there, eh?” I pointed.

“Yes.” He clasped my hand and strode across the road at a brisk pace.

The car whizzed past behind us as he led me down a slope toward a creek trickling past in the distance. Before we were out of sight of the road, he halted and gazed down at me with a heated expression, his eyes still glowing.

When we stood close together, I was always conscious of the power of his aura and the way it crackled in the air around me, flowing over my skin and making me intensely aware of him. Even when he was annoyed, it had a magnetic quality that made me want to get closer to him. I found my hand straying up to rest on his chest again.

“What’s wrong?” I repeated softly.

I thought he would explain why he was so angry, but he stepped close and wrapped his arms around me and kissed me.

You are my mate, he growled into my mind, as if I’d been questioning it. Or as if someone else had been questioning it? I’ve claimed you because you are a superior warrior who stands at my side and vexes my enemies. His hand slid down to grab my butt and pull me closer, our bodies molding together as he kissed me with intense longing that left me breathless and grabbing him back. Also, when I am in this form, I am extremely attracted to you. Even when I did not know that I liked your sharp tongue, I wanted to do this with you. And more.

I didn’t know what to say, and I was so distracted by this unexpected ardor that I wasn’t sure I could have formed words regardless. Zav lifted me from the ground, and I wrapped my arms around his shoulders and my legs around his waist, intensely aware of every inch of his hard body under his robe. I found my back against a tree, pinned even as I gripped him with no intention of letting go.

This wasn’t how or where I’d imagined we would have sex for the first time, but like him, I’d wanted it long before I decided I’d liked him. As tendrils of magic flowed from his fingers, igniting pleasure in me like human hands never had before, I groaned against his mouth.

I want you too. My fingers twined in his short hair, and I kissed him as passionately as he kissed me, his body an exciting contrast to the gnarled trunk of the tree at my back. He shoved my jacket off my shoulders, and it tumbled to the ground. I was seconds away from yanking off the rest of my clothes—and yanking that robe off him—when he pulled back from the kiss and looked toward the forest canopy. He didn’t release me, but the magic teasing my body disappeared.

“Zav!” I panted, my arms tightening around him. “You can’t start this and then stop.”

“I don’t want to stop.”

“Then don’t.”

He still wasn’t looking at me, so I kissed his neck, nipping at the strong tendons, trying to draw him back to me. I didn’t sense anything out there—he couldn’t be distracted by some squirrel running overhead or a bird flying past, could he?

His gaze returned to mine, his eyes full of the desire I felt. “I ache to be with you.”

   
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