Page 18 of Drawn by Dragonblood (Blood Born #1)

Jonathan

I t had been Dakota’s idea to go traipsing through the mountains for our honeymoon, a contracted offer of good money for photographs of the White Mountains at the most opportune moment.

But the hope glinting in her eyes over Elijah’s request made the decision to accept his offer as easy as that from North Woods Living .

She wanted to stay but would insist I choose what we ought to do, same as always.

Elijah’s words held manipulation I recognized all too well, but he’d been ten times softer—kinder—than that of the narcissistic asshole from my childhood who’d taught me how to erect walls to protect myself from that shit.

Elijah had scaled them with ease, the crafty fucker.

I, too, yearned to say yes, but fear over trusting the wrong person heightened my inner bullshit scanner.

Elijah wanted something from us, far beyond sexual gratification I felt sure, and although living with Dakota for so many years had somewhat eased my defensive, suspicious nature, Elijah brought it to the forefront with the lies spilling from his delicious-looking lips.

But my pampered love wished to stay, and it wasn’t like Elijah would be around to tempt either of us into writhing between the sheets of his bed wherever it lay on the second floor.

Even though I preferred having a little while to think shit through before agreeing to anything, I’d taken him up on his offer of money in exchange of caring for his home. At the clasp of his hand, my dick had swelled at a rate that left me lightheaded.

Dakota and I ate some natural, cardboard-like cereal while Elijah moved about—upstairs then down—both of our gazes glued to him when he shared the room with us for those brief moments before disappearing into the lower cavern.

He returned upstairs to the second floor for a time but emerged once more, bag slung over his shoulder.

We had finished breakfast and nursed new cups—mine with coffee, Dakota’s, her tea.

“I can show you where the batteries are,” he said, drawing me to my feet as though his words were a leash demanding I follow like a well-trained dog.

I had to bite back a damned groan at the idea of crawling after him on hands and knees when I should have been grimacing with disgust. Guess I could add another kink to my I wouldn’t mind giving that shit a try list.

“I’ll take you on a complete tour of the lower levels on my way out if you’d like,” he said to Dakota as a request for her to join us.

Funny how he was softer with her and more demanding of me.

Not that I had issue with either. I appreciated his kindness toward my wife and secretly got off on the bossiness leaving his tongue.

“Sure. We’d love that,” she said, standing and taking my hand, keeping me rooted in the here and now rather than a fantasy of infidelity.

Elijah’s brow furrowed for a split second as he glanced down at our entwined fingers.

That’s right, buddy. United we stand , I muttered inside my head.

The thought didn’t hold the anger or resentment it should have toward the man who threatened my resolve to stay faithful to the love of my seemingly damned existence.

Instead, I found myself wondering at his loneliness.

The lack of love in his life I expected Dakota felt empathy for as she tended to be toward those who hurt.

Hell, even if both she and I invited him into our bed, we would leave him shortly afterward anyway, and he would be alone once more.

But what a few days those could be…

Shaking my head at the turn of my thoughts toward being united in desire , I followed Elijah down into the bowels of his caverns, through winding passes and the occasional smaller open areas.

He showed us the solar panel system, the part below ground, the shutoff for the water pumps, the natural hot spring he had enclosed as a sauna-type room.

Dakota’s eyes lit up upon seeing the steaming water, and I knew we’d be visiting there again before long.

Elijah ignored flanking doors as we passed through another hallway, and I wondered at what lay beyond.

“The garage,” he said, pushing open the one directly ahead.

He flipped switches on the wall, flooding the room with light. A Humvee and sleek Audi—both shiny and black—sat in the room that appeared hewn out of rock. A steel garage door hung at the cavern’s far end.

“This faces west,” Elijah said, motioning us across the garage and up a few steps through another door.

“And this is my pride and joy.” Lights shone down on the helicopter he’d told us about.

It rested upon a raised, steel floor, and as he flicked another switch, sending a similar door to the one in the garage upward, I realized exactly how he accessed the air from beneath a mountain.

“Come along,” Elijah said, motioning us forward onto the dais-like platform.

Gears shifted, natural light flooded the room along with the cool, morning air, and the floor beneath us started to roll out into the shade of the mountain.

“That’s fucking cool,” I said, grinning at the technology that hung the platform over the road disappearing down into the valley on our left and leading to the garage door on our right.

A cold wind whipped at my hair, and I tugged Dakota close as I realized she’d wrapped her arms around herself against the chill.

Elijah turned toward us, fished something from his pocket, and tossed it to me. Keys jangled as they landed in my hand. “For the Humvee, just in case.”

My smile widened.

“The same switch will pull the platform back in and shut the door, but I can close it remotely from the helicopter,” he said, opening the chopper’s door and tossing his bag inside.

“I’ll get it,” I said.

“Will you remember how to return upstairs?”

I rubbed over my chest from a sudden, strange ache. “I’m sure we can figure it out.”

“We might need to stop by that hot spring on the way, though,” Dakota said, a smile in her voice even though the suggestion sounded somewhat strained.

And breathless as fuck with obvious intent.

My dick bucked inside my jeans.

I held out my hand, and Elijah hesitated a few seconds before clasping mine again. The same energy shot up my arm and straight south to my cock. “Safe trip,” I said.

He dipped his head, pale eyes intently studying mine. “I left my cell number on the table. Call if you have any questions or problems.”

“Will do.”

Stepping back, he released my hand, leaving me feeling…bereft I believed the word was. “Dakota.” He nodded toward her, and Dakota whispered a “safe travels” as he turned without touching her.

I laced my fingers through my wife’s, seeking comfort, and we stepped back into the garage, far from the aircraft and the whirl of wind as the blades started cranking.

Headset in place, Elijah busied himself with whatever it took to get that beast in the air, and when he finally glanced our way again, a small smile tilted his lips up. We both waved, and he lifted away, leaving us in a thunder of noise and whipping wind from the rotor blades.

A sense of sadness crashed over me, a tugging toward where he disappeared on the horizon.

Dakota absently rubbed her chest as though she felt it too.

“Come on,” I croaked, pulling her back into the warm cavern that remained flooded by Elijah’s scent regardless of his absence. “Let’s go check out that sauna and see if we can make it any hotter.”