Page 49 of Driven by Dragonblood (Blood Born #3)

Patrick

J essie stood outside on the porch, her drunken rant about the mighty Doctor Macaire fucking children reaching my ears as my mates’ anxiety to be by my side spurred them toward obedience.

Bile rose up the back of my throat as the thirst for blood and violence pushed to own my soul. Needing to keep my fucking hands busy—ward off the itch for something more to take over—I slammed open a cabinet, nearly dropping three glasses as I retrieved them.

Flared nostrils couldn’t help but drag in a lungful of Jessie’s lingering stench as I grew desperate to rid myself of her presence. I ground my teeth, muscles quivering, on the verge of exploding. Thickening. Lengthening.

The beast inside me was a force to be reckoned with.

Protective and possessive, neither trait carried negativity in my human mind. He was gut instinct—had seen me through my lifetime even without my knowing. It was him driving me home to stay where fate had intended me to be. Dragonblood had always held dominion over my destiny .

And in fear of being seen as insane, my humanity had attempted to do the same to my other half.

Primrose clung to Jaxon when they entered the kitchen, both of them struggling to make sense of the thoughts and jumbled memories of my past, attempting to align my humanity with the beast inside.

Jaxon squeezed her hand and motioned toward a chair at the table.

Legs weak, she sank down, a slight sting in her backside reminding us of what had been interrupted. A sinking sense of dread from her swamped whatever arousal might have attempted to rekindle among us.

“What’s going to happen?” she asked, worry eating like a cancer at her insides.

My brow furrowed at all the possible outcomes as Jaxon sat beside her.

“It’s not a big deal,” he said.

I glared, my spine straightening at his attempts to brush off our situation as nothing.

“What?” Jaxon shot at me, stare unwavering. “Enjoying a little kinky action and threesomes isn’t illegal.”

“No, but this town is conservative enough that my career could be ruined,” I hissed.

“Who gives a flying fuck what people think about you?” Jax grumbled beneath his breath.

“I do! Do you know how hard I’ve fought to hold onto my sanity, study the human brain, so I could prove myself of sound mind to myself and help others who struggle? Do you have any goddamn idea the emotional turmoil I’ve dealt with over the years?”

The ache in my chest knifed Primrose’s, and a sob caught in her throat.

“You’re not the only one dealing with emotional turmoil, Doc . ”

Primrose’s thoughts shut down, overrun by anxiety. She slumped, heaviness owning her limbs. Chest sinking in, she hung her head and closed her eyes…her longing for reality to dissipate sweeping through me.

“Fuck.” I pulled her up into my arms and hugged her tight against me. “I’m so goddamn sorry, Primrose.”

Affection and the desire to ease her despair leaked warmth through our bond, attempting to break through the coldness closing her off.

Jaxon threw his arms around both of us. The intangible parts of our bond could only go so far in reminding us of how our souls had been brought together, but the physical connection among all three of us?

As mates, we couldn’t become any more real to solidify the truth in my mind I had been on the verge of submitting to mere moments earlier.

Primrose sagged against me, the slowing of my heartbeat causing hers to sync with mine.

“We’re going to figure this out,” I stated, even though unrest over the confrontation ahead of us lay at the back of my mind.

Shift.

Take our mates from this mess we created.

“We didn’t create it, Prim,” Jax argued out loud with her inner beast attempting to sway her into shifting to her true form and stealing us away. “That bitch did.”

“And I can’t flee from my responsibilities,” I added. Fate had brought me back to Arizona—and not just to meet my mates. A deeper need to accomplish…something more seemed to root my feet in this dry soil where beauty abounded. “Arizona, this land, is our home.”

My beast purred in pleasure, curling up in contentment where I used to imprison him, but no more.

Primrose peered up at me, hope swelling over the last barrier that had kept us apart .

A siren sounded in the distance, not allowing for further reflection or conversation. “The cops are going to want proof you’re over the age of consent—please tell me you have IDs,” I said.

“Yeah—I’ll grab them.” Jaxon left us for the trash bags lying beside the garage door.

“When I turned sixteen, my grandmother insisted I get my license to drive our old truck out of the mountain,” Prim said as memories flitted through her mind, flooding me with her thankfulness and lingering grief.

I had so much to learn about my two young lovers—and I wanted their every joy and heartache to become my own.

Tears welled in Primrose’s eyes, and I rubbed my nose over hers, eyes closing briefly.

“Cops are coming, you sick fuck!” Jessie hollered through the front door, seeming pleased with herself, but I couldn’t be bothered to look away from amber eyes that overflowed with love when my gaze met Primrose’s once more.

Car doors slammed.

Jessie hollered more nonsense.

Regardless of the ruckus growing outside, our heartbeats slowed, love and passion swelling between us.

“Bring it—” Someone pounded on the door, cutting off Jaxon’s statement, loaded with dual meaning and cooling the instinctive need within us to mate.

“We are consenting adults,” I stated, setting Prim on her feet.

“Let’s go take care of this shit so we can get back to what that bitch so rudely interrupted.” Jaxon’s attempt at lightness fell short, but I ordered them to the living room and made for the front door.

A young cop stood on the porch, Jessie shrieking at the elder of the two officers who held her arm, escorting her down the stairs toward the cruiser with flashing lights in front of my house.

“Patrick Macaire?”

I stepped away, motioning the blond man inside.

“Sorry for the intrusion,” he said, stepping past me and peering deeper into the house. “Your neighbor called about a disturbance, along with another call from whom I assume is your ex?”

“Yes.” I led him toward the living room, wanting to get this over with.

Jaxon and Primrose sat side by side on the couch, gazes flicking from me to the man stepping into the room behind me.

Dragonblood.

Brow furrowed, I struggled to make sense of what Primrose whispered through the bond and how it roused the quiet darkness inside me.

My beast growled with clear intent as the cop introduced himself—Officer Ayling.

His explanation of why they were making a house call went in one ear and out the other as I attempted to sync my humanity with the beast inside me, allowing his instincts to make sense in my brain. Fucker was quiet, merely simmering, heating my blood like lava.

“Nothing wrong with a little kink,” Jaxon said with a flirty tone that caught my attention. I glared at him, a rumble growing in my chest. “Especially when all three are consenting adults.”

Officer Ayling fought a smirk, blind to the danger at his elbow as his gaze ate my beta the fuck up.

My cocky boy preened—until the officer turned his focus on our female. Jaxon’s eyes narrowed, eyes filling with blue-green fire.

Both of our dragons hissed .

“Can I see your IDs?” Officer Ayling asked, still clueless as he stood between two predators who wouldn’t think twice about tearing his head from his body.

As one, my mates lifted what they had in their hands, not tightly clasped between them.

He took Jaxon’s, checked the date of birth, and immediately handed it back, fingers brushing over my beta’s.

“They’re both legal.” I struggled to keep from growling as the cop checked Primrose’s ID, lucky for him, without touching her skin. “They’re also mine .”

Arousal burst through the bond at my verbal claiming.

Jaxon snickered, leaning back enough to adjust his bulge. He smirked up at the officer. “There’s just something about a man in uniform…”

I hissed.

Little cocksucker winked at me and proceeded to lick over his bottom lip while holding my gaze.

I’ll suck your cock any day of the week. Always hungry for your spunk, alpha , he assured me.

I hoped the brat realized he was in for it .

Jaxon choked on a groan, and the cop cleared his throat.

“Your ex is beyond drunk and claims to be tired of giving you second chances,” Officer Ayling told me, his gaze flitting over my blatantly sexual beta and flushed female before turning to face me.

“If her being upset over your legal partners taking her place continues, might I suggest a restraining order?”

Dragonblood, Primrose whispered again.

And I got it.

The inky ugliness of my jealousy and possessiveness slid from my mind, and I peered into the officer’s brilliant blue eyes, straining to hear or see for myself what Primrose did.

“Do you know a young woman named Emelia?” I asked the cop, wishing my royal blood had gifted me such insight as it had my female.

His brow furrowed for a moment, but he shook his head. “Should I?”

I considered explaining, but my gut instinct urged me to keep my silence—for now. Finally recognizing and trusting my inner beast’s leading, I shrugged a shoulder and motioned toward the front door. “Never mind. You’ll be removing Jessie from my property?”

“Public intoxication, disturbing the peace…seems enough to give you three a quiet rest of the evening.”

“I appreciate it.” I opened the door, taking note of my ex in the back of the cruiser, the other cop striding toward us. He paused on the walkway, his gaze meeting Officer Ayling’s as he stepped out onto my front porch.

“All set?” the elder asked.

Office Ayling nodded and stuck out his hand to me as his partner returned to the cruiser. Our shake was firm. Bold, but not threatening on either side.

“Enjoy the rest of your night,” he encouraged me, eyes twinkling with a knowing look.

“I plan on it.”

Chuckling, he strode down the stairs, unaware of the flare of lust through my groin over the hours to come and how my mates responded in kind.

I noted my neighbor on her porch and, teeth gritted, offered a forced, polite smile and small wave.

Nothing to see here.

The cops drove off, and I shut my front door, headed straight for the stairs.

Primrose and Jaxon scrambled to hurry after me.