Page 15 of Her Enemy Dragon Captor (Dream Team Shifters #5)

CHAPTER 15

J ane crossed her arms as Alex approached, a storm of emotions brewing inside her. Relief at seeing him warred with the suspicions that had been building all morning.

Not to mention she was still getting used to her dragon’s feelings on the issue of her mate.

And then there was the matter of the “pass.”

Between it all, it was unclear if her dragon wanted him to pull her in for a kiss, or wanted to thrash him.

"Jane," he called, concern evident in his voice. "Everything okay?"

"Not really," she replied, trying to keep her tone even. "I had an interesting conversation with one of your ‘recruits.’ It was enlightening...and alarming. He wouldn’t shut up about enemies hiding everywhere, underground bunkers, and preparations for war. And here I was concerned about financial abuse and the like. This sounds even more sinister. Care to explain?"

A shadow crossed Alex's face. "I see you've been exploring. Making new friends even."

"The door wasn't locked," Jane countered. "But when I tried to leave the compound, I was told I needed a 'pass.' Maybe you can explain that one too... while you write out my pass ."

She watched him carefully, studying his reaction. Part of her—the part that had felt the scales forming on her arms, the dragon part—wanted desperately to believe in him and rather annoyingly at the moment, she did.

That part of her also seemed to remember the feel of his hands on her body, the way his lips had claimed hers, the pleasurable fullness when he'd entered her. Her body responded to the memory with an unwelcome flush of heat.

But the rational FBI agent in her was kind of flipping out. There were more than a few warning signs here.

More than warning signs. Full-on air raid sirens were revving up.

"Jane," he said quietly, reaching for her hand. The moment his skin touched hers, that familiar electricity sparked between them. She felt her pulse quicken traitorously, her body leaning toward his of its own accord even as her mind screamed caution. "You're right. There's more I need to tell you."

She didn't pull away, despite the internal battle. He held her hand firmly in his as he spoke, each subtly movement sending waves of warmth up her arm and straight to her core. "I'm listening."

"Not here," Alex said, glancing around. His voice dropped lower, the timbre resonating through her in a way that made her remember his growls of pleasure the night before. "In private."

She started to give him a look... but then he spoke again, his amber eyes compelling her.

“Please.”

“You’re lucky my dragon seems to like you.”

Back at the cabin, Jane began to pace while Alex shut the door behind them. Her mind raced with conflicting thoughts.

So, what’s the big secret?

The man before her had awakened something incredible inside her—something that felt more real than anything she'd experienced before. She should be thrilled. And she was. If there was a way to measure her hormones, she was sure any test would rank them as “Raging.”

But none of that could prevent her mind from flashing back to Tortoise-boy. And to her sister, Melissa.

"I am hoping you are going to say something that will make all this make sense. And you have to let me contact my field office. The guy was really upset. And I didn’t like the way they almost had to drag him away. You need to understand what I have been through Jack... you need to understand about my sister...”

Her voice cracked unexpectedly on the last word. The stress of the past few days—the mission, the kidnapping, the dragon revelation, and now these cult-like warning signs—suddenly crashed over her like a tidal wave.

“Your sister? She was in a cult you said...?

"Yes, but I didn’t tell you the half of it. I told you the facts... but not the toll it took on me...or my family," she continued, her voice wavering despite her best efforts. "They isolated her, filled her head with conspiracy theories about hidden enemies and impending doom. It was like she wasn’t even my sister anymore...”

She felt the first tears forming...

"They almost broke her, Alex. Thank god we got her out in time... It almost broke me too."

A few tears streamed down her cheeks.

Oh, come on...

But she couldn’t stop it now...

Suddenly all the stress of the last week... and not just the last week... the last year... years... it all came crashing down on her.

“I am so tired of being so strong all the time... I just ... I can’t do it... not all the time...”

What is happening?

She tried to sit up straighter; she tried to head off the collapse she felt was coming, but realized she didn’t even want to. Despite everything she felt safe with him. Safe around him - safe to finally let her walls down...

“And with my father....” she paused for just a second, ”I just feel I will never be good enough. Never! No matter what I do...”

“Jane, it’s okay...”

But she wasn’t done...

Now the sobs were coming in great gasps, her body heaving after every few words...

“And ...this whole ... dragon thing! Do you know what it’s like... to just wake up... one day and find out... oh you’re part dragon?” For a split second the weight of it all subsided as she reflected, “I mean it’s kinda cool ...but...” And then it was back. “OH! and then to be locked up for three days!”

A wave of indignation came along with the tears, before the heaving gasps and tears came again in a torrent.

It was all coming out now.

Some FBI agent I am... if Director Carlson could see her now...

Or, God forbid, father.

That only caused fresh rivulets of tears to start spilling down her cheeks... “It’s all just kind of a lot Alex! I am so tired of being strong... just for today I don’t want to have to handle anything... i don’t want to be the bad... ass... boss... girl...” The last words were accompanied by more heaves and more tears.

So much for all my attempts at ‘adulting’. I give up...

But before she could say more, or even think it, he was there, holding her, caressing her cheek, rubbing her back...

“Jane, it’s okay... it’s okay. I’m here. I’m here.”

His fingers gently tilted her chin up, and he brushed away her tears with his thumb. "I will never let anyone hurt you again. Or hurt anyone you love. No one, ever.”

He kissed the top of her head, and she only nuzzled deeper into his embrace, finding comfort in his warmth and strength. Despite her lingering concerns, his heartbeat against her ear still calmed her like nothing else could it seemed. It was steady and reassuring, anchoring her in the midst of her emotional storm.

The tenderness in his voice undid her last defenses. When his lips found hers, she didn't resist. Her dragon surged forward, meeting his with eager recognition. The kiss deepened, as it seemed they both had no choice but to surrender to their attraction – to their bond.

"Alex," she whispered against his mouth, her hands finding their way under his shirt, desperate for the heat of his skin. Resisting was pointless. Whatever doubts her mind harbored, her body knew with absolute certainty that this man was hers. "I need you."

"I'm here," he murmured, his amber eyes holding hers as he slowly, deliberately removed her shirt, his movements unhurried and gentle. "I’m here babe," he repeated again.

Rather than say he word he was just there for her, at first just holding her, cradling her head on his shoulder as they stood. She caressed his cheek then, as she pulled back to look her mate in the eyes. His fingertips traced her collarbone with a delicacy she hadn't felt the night before, even as he kissed her neck and shoulder gently. Each touch, each movement was deliberate and unhurried. He treated her like she were some exotic flower as he unbuttoned her blouse, revealing her naked flesh beneath, and it was just what she needed in that moment. Goosebumps rose in the wake of his gentle exploration as he let her top fall away.

He followed the curve of her breast with feather-light touches. When his mouth replaced his fingers, warm and tender against her skin, she gasped, arching into his touch.

She reached for his shirt in return, their hands meeting in the middle, fingers intertwining briefly before continuing their task. There was no rush, no desperate tearing at clothes this time. He was attentive like no other lover she had ever experienced.

Yes, but what about turtle boy...

Shhhh...

Again, she had to shush her mind...

Her dragon had no such worries....

I definitely need to learn to listen to her... at least a little...

They undressed each other, maybe not exactly in an organized fashion, but at least all their clothes ended up in more or less one pile before they lay skin to skin on the bed. She instantly felt her body relax in his arms.

The heat between them built like a slow-burning flame rather than the wildfire of the previous night, but it was just as satisfying. Again, that feeling of being totally safe. Completely protected. She realized she had never really felt it. Not once in her life really.

Not until now.

Jane found herself absolutely melting under his attention, the way his hands cradled her as if she were something precious.

This is going to take a little getting used to ...

Maybe not that much though...

She nuzzled against him as they each slowly explored each other’s bodies...

"You're so beautiful," he whispered, as he kissed her neck, which she was happily realizing seemed to be a favorite pastime of his.

Not gonna complain.

Jane threaded her fingers through his hair, eyes closed as she surrendered to the sensation of his mouth against her skin.

He took his time, tasting, savoring, his tongue circling her nipple before taking it between his lips. She sighed his name, any thoughts of alliances or questions dissolving into the warmth spreading through her veins.

His palm slid over the flat plane of her stomach, down between her thighs, finding her already wet with desire. He stroked her with a patience that bordered on reverence, his amber eyes never leaving her face as he watched pleasure bloom across her features.

God, does he know how to touch me...

Where to touch me...

She felt exposed beneath his gaze, not just physically but emotionally—seen in a way that should have frightened her but instead felt like safety.

Whatever emotional storm had hit her so hard had clearly passed. She wasn’t sure what it was...maybe just the relief of confessing all her fears...

"I want you," she breathed, reaching for him, her fingers brushing his hardness. "I want to feel you... all of you..."

His gaze intensified. "All of me," he murmured, a hint of roughness entering his voice.

She arched closer, her desire flaring. "Yes," she confirmed, her voice husky. "I need you... fully."

“Are you okay babe? Jane...”

“Yes babe, thanks to you... and I want to show you how much better I feel...”

He shifted, moving over her, his body heat radiating against hers. “Well, when you put it like that...” He entered her with a slow, deliberate thrust, stretching her, filling her. When he was fully inside, he paused, his forehead pressed to hers, their breaths mingling.

"Jane," he whispered, his voice thick with emotion, but laced with a newfound urgency. "My mate."

Their bodies began to move together, a rhythm that quickly escalated beyond a silent conversation. He held her gaze, his elbows alongside her as she spread her legs beneath him. She held her thighs open beneath him, moaning with each thrust, willing him deeper and deeper. She wanted to merge with him, to take him entirely, and he did not disappoint as he filled her again and again with long powerful strokes.

"Alex," she gasped, her nails digging into his shoulders. The intensity built, fueled by their raw need.

God what he does to me...

She could feel that bestial, primal desire rising in her again... and she wasn’t about to fight it. She knew what she wanted. She wanted to fully feel his strength, and his power.

She stroked at his chest again, before pulling him in for a kiss, which he met with an intensity that only stoked her ardor all the more. Without a word she shifted, rolling to her belly, lifting her ass up towards him in invitation.

A low growl rumbled in his chest, a primal sound that thrilled her. At first, he just laid his rock-hard thickness between her cheeks, teasing her. She pressed back, reveling in anticipation as he caressed her back. But then just as quickly, his hands gripping her hips. Again, she could feel the fatness of his head pressing against her, stretching at her opening. She moaned as she pressed against him. That was all he needed and he drove into her again, filling her from behind.

She let out a low growl of her own, as each of his thrusts hit a new depth. Almost immediately a new wilder, more untamed rhythm began to take them over.

One strong, rough hand reached again, seizing a breast even as he drove into her powerfully.

Jane's breath hitched. A fresh wave of exhilaration shot through her as she gave herself to her mate completely. She had never felt more exposed, or more wanted. The rawness of it almost instantly caused her to feel an intensity building in her belly. She braced herself, meeting each thrust with a hungry thrust of her own.

He gripped her hips, his movements powerful and demanding. "Mine," he growled, each word a possessive claim.

He slapped her ass, and she felt a fresh wave of pleasure to add to the building intensity and pressure in her core.

That was a first spanking slap – is that even what you call it? - in what she was quickly realizing had been a very puritanical life...

But she liked it.

She liked it a lot.

It will not be the last...

The world narrowed to the feel of him inside her, the sound of their ragged breathing, the smell of his musk as they crashed together again and again. Sounds were coming out of her... out of him, she had never known people could make...

Jezzus...where had this been her whole life...

Pleasure and a sense of wildness coursed through her, unlike anything she'd experienced before.

Suddenly the pressure was spiking...as her pussy stretched to accommodate his girth, his length. With every slap of his thighs against her willing ass, she felt it magnify. And then it was upon her. She cried out in pleasure, her body arching as wave after wave of sensation crashed through her core. Her hands clutched at the bed, her release both fierce and complete.

She was still caught in the beginning throes of her release when suddenly he gripped her hips with a fierce power as he pounded into her with a new urgency. He cried out as well as she felt his hot seed pour deep inside her. He shuddered against her, his arms wrapped tightly around her waist, holding her as if he'd never let go. They tremored together like that for a moment before collapsing on the bed, a tangle of limbs and rapid breaths.

As their heartbeats gradually slowed, Jane turned to nestle against him, her head finding its place on his chest as naturally as if it had always belonged there. The fierce urgency that had consumed them moments before gave way to a deep, contented peace. His palm rested warm against the small of her back while she listened to the steady reassuring rhythm of his heart beneath her ear.

For a long while, they simply existed together in the quiet aftermath, the only sounds their breathing and the occasional distant bird call from outside.

Jane finally broke the comfortable silence with a breathless laugh. "I think they probably heard us all the way in downtown Greenrock."

"Let them hear," Alex murmured, a hint of possessive pride in his voice. "Let the whole world know that we have found each other."

She smiled against his skin. "My territorial dragon."

For a moment they lapsed into silence before something about the moment reminded her of that first dream.

"Alex?" Jane spoke softly. "A few nights before, I think it was a few, before everything with the meditation, I had this dream. I didn’t tell you. But it was so real. I was a dragon, flying, and then you and I were...um...together..." She hesitated. "It was almost magical...” She snuggled against him. “I wondered, did you have it too? Was it real?"

His arms tightened around her. "Yes," he admitted. "I had it too, but I wasn’t ready yet...”

“Neither was I,” she said, reveling in the understanding of the depth of their connection. “But I guess we are now, huh?” she laughed softly.

"I think you could say that,” Alex murmured, pressing a kiss to her hair. "But I think I prefer this reality to any dream."

The intimacy of their shared moment felt almost like an oasis—a sanctuary from the questions and uncertainties she still held.

But somehow their bonding had reassured her.

"Thank you," she said quietly.

"You don’t have to thank me my mate, for pleasuring you... it is my plea-" His voice rumbled beneath her ear.

"No not for that,” she giggled softly. “For not thinking less of me, when I was crying. For listening, and for letting me be... vulnerable."

His arms tightened around her. "There's nothing weak about what you just showed me, Jane. If anything, you showed your strength."

She pressed a soft kiss to his chest, feeling more centered than she had in days. "So, are you finally going to tell me about this mysterious alliance?"

Alex took a deep breath. "Of course, my mate. We call ourselves the Dream Team. We're an alliance of shifters formed for a sort of mutual protection."

"Like NATO? Like a defensive pact, but for shifters."

"Something like that," he agreed, his fingers running through her hair.

"I think I understand. Our world can be a dangerous place. I can imagine how people might react if they found out about shifters. Fear, panic maybe... probably worse. I've seen how humans treat things they don't understand." She sighed softly. "I don't blame you for wanting to protect yourselves."

“Yes, and there are definitely those that would do us harm.”

“So we aren’t that different.”

“What do you mean?”

“I work for the FBI...and you work for the Shifter Alliance...I mean the Dream Team. But we both are basically protectors. Protectors of the innocent.”

“Ah...yes, we aren’t that different at all.” he said as he kissed her forehead.

Something in his tone suggested there was more to it, but of course there was. But this was not the time to press. Between her little meltdown and then round two of their incredible sexual Olympics she was totally drained. In the best way possible. Whatever else was there could wait.

Right now, just don’t kill my buzz.

Her dragon hummed contentedly, satisfied with this moment of connection even if her FBI brain was still spinning deep in the back of her head.

She pressed her lips to his chest, right above his heart. "I'm glad I found you," she whispered. And in that moment, with their bodies still humming from their connection, she truly was. Whatever questions remained unanswered, she pushed them away. For now, this was enough—this feeling of finally belonging somewhere, with someone who understood the fire that had always burned inside her.

She silenced the last whispers of her investigator's instincts. Tonight, she would allow herself this peace.