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“No, I shouldn’t think so. It’s a private lodge.” Ashworth gestured toward the front door. “Shall we go then?”
I got my coat, and we went out, turning off the lights and locking the door behind us. I saw that a Loxi had pulled up to the driveway too, and Josh was standing there talking to the driver. “You’re all set, Mr. Ashworth,” Josh called out. “He’ll take you back to the hotel. And Jax, you’re with me.”
He came to meet me to take my backpack, putting it in the front seat beside him, then held the back door open for me. Mr. Ashworth got in his Loxi, and we were off a few minutes later. I realized as we pulled away that I had no idea where I was going, which may have accounted for the butterflies dancing around in my stomach—but I doubted it.
Chapter Eleven
Jax
Josh drove me up into the mountains surrounding Valleywood. It was some thirty or forty miles out of town, though they looked closer when viewed from the city. I’d never been to the mountains before, since my nana used to work most of the time and had no one she really could trust her bakery to. It was a pretty drive, though it was going to be dark before we started up.
“Dominic has a nice place up here—a lodge,” Josh was saying. “Kyle took me to it once so we could fly.”
“So you could what? Fly?”
He glanced at me in the rear-view mirror. “Sure. Don’t you like to fly occasionally? Stretch your wings?”
I shrugged, ashamed to admit to this Alpha male that I’d never flown at all. My father hadn’t been one to include me in any of the activities he had with my older brothers. Besides, I’d left my father’s house when I was really young, and my nana hadn’t ever had much time for any recreational pursuits. I had rarely shifted to my dragon in years—not really since I went through puberty and often woke up in the middle of the night after dreams of flying through the skies. After one of those dreams, I’d often find I had half-shifted into my dragon.
“Is-is that why Dominic went to his lodge? So he could fly?”
“Maybe. I’m not sure. But he’ll probably get some flying time in while he’s there. It’s nice and private where he lives. Nobody around for miles.”
The idea excited me and also made me shiver a little. I wasn’t adventurous by nature, so I was a little apprehensive. We didn’t talk much more about it as Josh paid attention to the narrow, winding road going up the mountain. We began to pass a few cabins and lodges, though, as we neared the top, and then Josh was putting on the brakes to swing into the driveway of one of them.
It was a huge log structure, stained dark from what I could tell, with tall windows stretching to an inverted vee shaped roof in front. I thought that at least the front part of the house was called an A-frame. Perched as it was on the side of the mountain, I thought the views from the back side of the house must be nothing less than spectacular. Dominic’s other big, black car was in the driveway, and Josh pulled up behind it. Before I could even get out, the front door to the lodge opened and Dominic stepped out on the wide deck.
My first thought was that he looked amazing. He was wearing faded jeans and a black sweater and was barefoot again. I couldn’t help looking at his long, elegantly shaped feet as I climbed up the few steps to greet him. He pulled me in close when I reached the top step and he smelled as always like fresh-baked cookies, underlain with smoke and spice. It shouldn’t have been nearly as pleasant as it was. I nuzzled my nose into his throat as he leaned over me. I held my face up for a kiss and he smiled down at me and obliged me quite willingly, and his mouth was feverishly hot, causing strong yearnings to sweep over me. I could feel myself getting a little wet, just from his kisses.
I clung to him for a long time—our first fight had shaken me more than I’d realized. He said my name in a fierce, frantic tone, trying to pull me closer, almost like he wanted me inside him. I felt greedy for his hands on me too, but not here—not in front of Josh and probably Kyle, looking on from somewhere inside. I wanted him alone and in a bed for what came next, so I pushed feebly on his chest, and he relented, looking down at me with a smoldering, impatient look.
Finally, he got hold of himself, letting his forehead rest against mine as he breathed me in. Then he wrapped an arm around my waist and drew me to the front door.
My first impression was of dark wood and leather. The lodge even had the huge deer-horn chandeliers, and they should have looked slightly kitschy and tacky. They didn’t. Somehow, in this big, luxurious space, with all the logs and granite and expensive leather furnishings, the lighting was perfect, like everything else.
Dominic let me look my fill of his kitchen too, with its state-of-the-art ovens and appliances, and then began to gently steer me toward the master bedroom, at the back of the house on the first level.
“Josh, you can take off the rest of the night if you like—Kyle is upstairs in the game room, waiting for you.”
“Thanks, Dominic. Have a good night, sir, and you too, Jax.”
I smiled my thanks at him and let Dominic continue to steer me to the bedroom. I turned once we came into the room and found him behind me, his eyes only a gleam in the darkness. He clasped me to him, whispering into my hair.
“Mon ange, I’m sorry we argued. I was an ass, and I didn’t handle things well. Can you forgive me?” He pulled back to look at me, ferociously intent, watching my face as he waited for my answer.
“Of course, I will. I lost my temper, too, and I’m sorry. I should have given us both time to calm down, instead of chasing you away like I did.” I kissed the side of his face and nuzzled him again. “When you never called me the next day, I was…I thought I’d never see you again.”
“No way,” he murmured, sliding his hands under my shirt and over my heated skin, making me shiver all over again. “I could never stay away from you for long. I need to make love to you.”
“Yes,” I breathed excitedly and pulled my shirt over my head to toss it on the floor. I pressed myself against the whole, long length of him and he groaned. He pulled my hair down from its messy bun and buried his face into the tangled curls, kissing me over and over again. I could feel my omega fluids seeping out of me, hot and sticky, getting me ready for him. I never wanted anything the way I wanted him then.
****
Dominic
I couldn’t get enough of his kisses and of the feel of him in my arms. My dragon had been angry and snarling at me since the argument I’d had with Jax and only now, now that I had him back in my arms, was he finally satisfied, twisting and curling around inside me, eager to claim our omega mate.
I picked him up and laid him on the bed and the rich scent of him hit me squarely, making me take a deep breath as it overwhelmed my senses. My dragon was urging me to fall on top of him and take him, because he had stopped thinking rationally and was just reacting to the omega scent of his musk. It was trying to invade my senses too, and for a moment it was all I could think about.
